


Broken, Beautiful.

by becolourful



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Basilisks, Completed, F/M, Harry Potter - Freeform, Harry Potter References, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets, Internal Conflict, Love, Manipulation, Or Is It?, Prequel, Slow Burn, Toxic Relationship, Unhealthy Relationships, Unrequited Love, Wandless Magic, Young Tom Riddle, please comment the author needs validation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 23:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 91,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16074059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/becolourful/pseuds/becolourful
Summary: Ava Rochford was hiding something. Tom was sure of it. He would break her and when he did, it would be beautiful.Set in Hogwarts 1942/43 (Fifth year - the first time the chamber of secrets was opened.)





	1. The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black

Chapter One: The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black

Ava Rochford tapped her fingers against the fabric of her seat impatiently. She was waiting for her friends to join her on the Hogwarts Express in the compartment that they had shared together since first year. It was true that the train wasn’t to leave for another ten minutes and she didn’t really have much to be impatient about - they weren’t late after all.

She knew that they would be on the platform with their families, saying last minute; possibly tearful goodbyes. Ava was staring determinedly at the opposite wall, averting her gaze from the wide window that showed nothing but loving parents embracing their children. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a young boy - a first year clinging onto his mother’s waist. 

She wrinkled her nose and let her elbow length, silvery-blonde hair provide a curtain so that she didn’t have to see. 

Luckily, she was spared having to stare at the wall when a sandy haired boy slid open the door and practically fell into the compartment; having been pushed by the throng of students barrelling down the train looking for seats. 

Ava let a smile cross her pale features as she stood to greet him.

“Lachlan!”

She threw her arms around her best friend’s neck and he laughed, dropping the end of the trunk he’d been dragging onto the floor. 

“Good to see you too Ava.” Lachlan said, his Scottish accent weighing down his words as he hugged her waist tightly and lifted her off of her feet. 

“Well I do hope that I’m not interrupting.” Came an extremely suggestive voice from the door. 

“Erin!” Ava leapt into the arms of her other best friend and the two girls grinned as they hugged. 

Eventually the three friends tucked away their luggage and sat down, ready to catch up on everything they had missed over the summer. 

“I knew you’d get that.” Erin pointed at the shiny Slytherin prefect badge pinned to Ava’s chest. Ava scrunched up her nose in response. 

“I got lucky.” 

“Hey, I got one too!” Lachlan dug in his pocket and pulled out a blue badge with a P on it. 

“You definitely got lucky.” Erin joked and Lachlan responded with a swift punch on her arm. 

“Why are you changed already, how long have you been waiting?” Lachlan asked, kicking his feet up onto the empty chair opposite him. 

“Not long.” Ava lied flawlessly with a smile. 

“I just wasn’t fond of the clothes I had to wear to the station.” Another lie. The lace dress that she had been wearing to pass as a muggle was one of her favourites. 

Lachlan nodded. He had grown over the summer and seemed a lot lankier than he had before. Ava had no doubt that his quidditch muscles would come into effect at some point though, as he played Keeper for the Ravenclaw team. 

Erin hadn’t changed in the slightest. Her long, dark hair was pinned back in a neat bun and her fringe was rolled back. Her dark eyes were on the smallish side but her straight nose and jaw gave her a mature look. Something that definitely did not match her personality. 

“How were your summers?” Ava asked, grinning at the pair sat opposite her, pulling her ankles up so she could sit cross-legged on the upholstery. 

“Pretty boring” Lachlan shrugged, ruffling his hair. 

“I’ve missed this.” He pulled his wand out of his pocket and kissed the cherry wood. Erin made a face of disgust. 

“Don’t look at me like that, you have no idea what it’s like to live without magic, you purebloods.” Lachlan said the word with a roll of his eyes. 

“Yes well, my summer was amazing. I spent it out in the countryside with my grandparents. A severe lack of boys though, but I suspect that’s why Mum and Dad sent me there in the first place.” She shrugged and looked out of the window as the whistle sounded that announced the train would about to be pulling out of the station. 

Unfortunately for Mr and Mrs Shafiq, Erin had taken quite an interest in the male population since enrolling at Hogwarts in her first year. The pair were desperately trying to push her in the direction of Cygnus Black in the year above, but Erin was much more interested in playing the field. 

The trio talked and laughed, happy to have been reunited as the Scottish countryside whizzed past the window. A couple of hours into the journey, Ava remembered that she and Lachlan should probably go to the Prefect’s carriage down the front of the train to see the new Head Boy and Girl for instructions of their new duties. 

“We’ll be back in a bit.” Ava waved to a sulky Erin before walking down the train, all the way to the front carriage with Lachlan. To Ava’s embarrassment, it was already full of people and they were the last to join the group. 

“Sorry.” she grinned apologetically and they sat down in the only available seats. 

“Now that everyone has joined us,” the girl with the HG badge on glared at Ava and Lachlan. 

“We can begin.” 

“I’d like to start by marking everyone off on my register.” The Head Boy interrupted her. Ava recognised him as Caspar Crouch from Ravenclaw. The Head Girl nodded and stayed quiet as he pulled a list of names from the pocket of his robes. 

“Okay so from Hufflepuff we have Clara Abbott and Zephyr Longbottom,” a round faced, freckled girl and a wiry, dark haired boy raised their hands a little to indicate their presence. 

“Gryffindor, Leonardo Selwyn and Mary Van Allen,” the two Gryffindor’s waved. 

“Ravenclaw, Lachlan Caldwell and Harriet Carrow,” Lachlan nodded his head once and Harriet raised a hand. 

“And for Slytherin, Tom Riddle and Avaline Rochford.” 

While Tom Riddle nodded, Ava interjected; “It’s just Ava” with a blinding smile. 

Caspar blinked at her in surprise before making a note of it. 

“Just Ava.” He smiled back. 

“Well now we’ve established that we are all present, I think we can introduce ourselves” The Head Girl gave Caspar a pointed look. 

“I’m Giselle Nott and this is Caspar Crouch.” 

There were many nods, no one said anything. 

Lachlan shot Ava a look that clearly showed his feelings about Giselle’s manner. Ava stifled a laugh in response. 

“Well Caspar and I will be holding regular prefect meetings this year, once a month or so and you will all be expected to attend.” Giselle cast a piercing gaze around at the fifth years as if to say ‘or else’. 

“We will be writing up your patrolling schedules for each night of the week and will distribute them to you at the first official prefect meeting tomorrow evening. As for now, patrol the corridors of the train and try to prevent any misdemeanours. Any questions?” 

No one said anything. 

“Do you have anything to add?” Giselle asked Caspar brusquely. He shook his head, apparently intimidated by Giselle’s terse manner. 

“Excellent, you all may leave.” 

Rather confused at this abrupt dismissal, Ava and Lachlan were the first to stand and leave the carriage, shrugging at each other as they did so. 

“I knew Riddle would get Slytherin.” Lachlan commented when the pair had walked far enough down the train that the other prefects were no longer behind them. 

“I know, he’s the type isn’t he?” Ava agreed. 

Lachlan snorted, “It’s like some prefect making machine coughed him up one day, the ready-made, perfect student.” 

Ava nudged him in the ribs for being mean but laughed nonetheless. Tom Riddle was the perfect student it was true, as well as being undeniably gorgeous. Many girls in the school liked him but he had never shown interest in anything besides his studies - and sucking up to teachers. Ava had to admit that in a world where she might find a goody two shoes attractive, Riddle would top her list. He was tall and lean with sharp, chiselled features that made him look far more mature than the other boys in the year. His black hair and pale skin made his incredibly dark eyes stand out on his face. The kind of eyes that electrified your nerves when you caught them.

However, Ava had always been more attracted to rule breakers, although it never worked out in her favour. After all, she always came across as very well behaved herself and never really had much opportunity to get to know any of the boys she found attractive. Mainly because none of them were in Slytherin.

They arrived back at the compartment they had been in earlier to find Erin looking harassed, sat opposite the twins Polly and Michael Prewett from Gryffindor. At Ava and Lachlan's entrance the twins jumped up, Michael shoved something in his pocket and Polly grinned at them. 

“We were just leaving, see you later Erin.” 

And without another word they hurried from the compartment. 

“What was that about?” Lachlan asked while Ava took Polly’s vacated seat by the window.

“They were just causing trouble - as usual.” Erin huffed, leaning back into her seat with her arms folded. 

The rest of the train journey was fairly uneventful. The trio ate a small mountain of sweets from the trolley and exchanged stories from their summer. Before they knew it they had arrived, the carriages had taken them up to the castle and Professor Dippet was welcoming them all back to school. 

Ava poked at her food uninterestedly as Erin chattered to Druella Rosier at the Slytherin table. 

“Anything wrong beautiful?” Alphard Black asked her from her left. He had been a good friend of Ava’s for several years and was the world’s biggest flirt. Ava didn’t mind though, she enjoyed flirting back far too much to ever ask him to stop. 

“I’m fine thanks Alphard.” Ava looked up at him, plastering a smile onto her face. She didn’t exactly understand why she felt so downcast anyway. Probably hormones or something. 

“How was your summer?” She added as an afterthought.

“Positively dreadful.” Alphard replied cheerily, stretching his arms above his head and cracking his neck. 

“Mother invited Cygnus round for half of it and it is safe to say I look forward to when I never have to associate with him again.” 

“Surely it wasn’t that bad.” Ava said, craning her neck to look down the table to see Cygnus Black, Alphard’s sixth year cousin talking to some friends. 

“Oh it was, between him and my sister I think they might start a Grindelwald fan club the way they were going on about what’s happening in Germany.” 

Ava chewed on her lip. 

“Walburga wouldn’t do anything stupid like joining though would she? I mean she’s very intelligent.” 

Alphard shrugged. “She’s too much of a coward in my opinion, values her own life more than fighting for any kind of cause. Did I tell you she’s engaged to Orion now?” 

“Your cousin Orion?” Ava asked, appalled. 

“Second cousin” Alphard corrected. 

Ava scoffed, “As if that makes much of a difference” 

“Toujours pur.” Alphard said sarcastically, drumming his fingers on the table rhythmically while they waited for dessert to appear. 

After she had finished eating and Professor Dippet had given his final speech, Ava rose from the table with Erin, laughing at Erin’s retelling of some of Druella’s escapades of the summer. So engrossed in Erin’s tale, she nearly walked straight into someone who had been standing behind her bench quietly. 

“Oh, hi Riddle,” she said, a little flustered at being caught off guard. She had to tilt her head up to look at his face since he was a good few inches taller than she was and standing very close. 

“Miss Rochford,” he nodded his head, a lock of his black hair dropped forwards in front of his eyes as he looked down at her. He promptly took a step backwards to reinstate their personal spaces. 

“We need to escort the first years to the common room.” He said softly, though Ava could still hear every word. 

“Of course.” She said, smiling and gesturing for him to lead the way. 

He did so and she followed, shooting a glance at Erin who was pointing at Tom’s back and pretending to fan her face. Ava grinned at her before following him, calling as she went. 

“First years! First years this way please!” 

That night, Ava thought of what Alphard had said at the table. Orion and Walburga were engaged, they were only in seventh year. They were so young. She rolled over in bed and chewed on her lip worriedly. 

Ava lived with her aunt who was a pureblood fanatic. Since Ava’s parents had been killed in Austria by Grindelwald’s forces when she was six, she had lived with her Aunt in a huge manor house in the countryside. Her Aunt was not the most loving of guardian’s. She was cold and harsh, the complete opposite of her brother - Ava’s father, who had been wonderful to her. 

Ava wondered whether her Aunt was already making plans to marry her off to a pureblood man that she approved of. She didn’t want marriage to weigh her down to stop her achieving her goals of being a healer, like her parents had been. 

Slowly, Ava’s eyes closed as she fell asleep. 

Of course, that was even if she would be allowed to become a healer with a condition like hers.

 


	2. If at First You Don't Succeed

The next day was a Sunday, to allow the students to settle back into school before lessons began on Monday. 

Ava was awoken by the other girls in her dorm shuffling about getting ready, talking to each other about what subjects they had picked for their O.W.L’s that year and so on. Checking her watch lazily, Ava saw that she had slept in late and needed to get down to breakfast before the prefect’s meeting in the head boy and girl’s common room at eleven.

“Morning” she called to Felicia, Druella and Cecilia, who were already dressed and sitting around the end of Druella’s bed. Cecilia smirked as Ava rushed past. 

“Late for something already Ava?” 

“Prefect’s meeting.” Ava explained, shutting the door to the bathroom and getting washed and dressed. 

She ran a brush through her hair on her way to the door and threw it back onto her bed from the doorway. 

“Are you not coming to breakfast?” She stopped and asked the three girls. They looked at each other and laughed a little. 

“We had ours hours ago.” Cecilia said apologetically. 

“I think Erin’s waiting for you in the common room though.” Druella smiled. 

“Excellent, thank you!” Ava called to them as she hurried out of the room and along the passage to the green and silver common room. 

“Morning Ava,” a couple of friends said to her as she emerged. She nodded around as she tried to locate Erin, who was standing by the empty fireplace talking to Kaspian Nott - a fourth year. 

Without saying a word Ava dragged Erin away and out of the common room, ignoring her friend’s protests. 

“I was talking to him.” Erin whined, straightening her robes once Ava had released her and the pair climbed the stairs out of the dungeons into the entrance hall. 

“You were flirting with him.” Ava corrected, breathing heavily and brushing her long silvery-blonde hair away from her face. 

“Same difference.” 

Ava rolled her eyes. 

“He’s too young for you anyway.” 

Erin stuck her tongue out at her as they burst into the entrance hall. One glance through the doors into the great hall reminded Ava that she needed to speak with Professor Dippet - the same as she did the first day back of every year. 

“I’ve just realised I’ve forgotten something!” Ava clapped a hand to her forehead and Erin whirled around. 

“What?! Breakfast ends in ten minutes!” 

“You go on.” She gave Erin a little push. 

“I’ll catch up later.” Before she could respond Ava slipped through the crowd of students in the entrance hall and climbed up the marble staircase, heading for Professor Dippet’s study. 

She knew there was a high probability she was going to miss the prefect’s meeting if she did this now but to her, this was more important. 

“Ink pot.” She told the stone gargoyle that stood guard and it leapt aside, revealing a staircase for her to climb. She did so and knocked politely on the door of the office, waited for Professor Dippet to say come in, then entered the circular room. 

“Good morning Avaline,” a balding man greeted her from behind the desk. Not surprised to see her in the slightest.

“Good morning Professor.” 

He gestured for her to take a seat in the chair opposite the desk - as she so often had. She did so, taking in the familiar grand furnishings and tall arched windows. Professor Dippet himself was wearing robes of deep aubergine embroidered with gold thread. Although the hair atop his head was mostly gone, his long white beard was thick and his face was heavily lined. 

“I assume you wish to discuss your situation?” He looked at her kindly, his hands clasped on the desk in front of him. 

“I do sir.” Ava sat completely upright in her chair, desperate for this to go the way she hoped. 

“I’m in much better control than I have ever been, I achieve the highest marks in my year consistently - allow me to show you how controlled I am.” 

Dippet nodded, indulging her. Ava bit her lip, not expecting him to let her do this. Already a step in the right direction. 

She withdrew her wand from her pocket and placed it on the desk in front of her to show blatantly how she did not need it and proceeded to raise her arms, palms up to face the items on Dippet’s desk.

Taking a deep breath, hoping against hope that this would go well Ava thought, _Wingardium leviosa._

The quill, ink bottle, parchment and several of Dippet’s books rose delicately into the air; stopping about three feet above the desk. They started to revolve silently the longer they hovered. Ava held them there for a few seconds before lowering them back to the desk where they landed gently. 

She looked at Dippet beaming, delighted with her control. 

He was frowning however. 

“And your mood swings, how are those coming along?” 

“I’ve had them under control for months now Professor” Ava assured him vigorously. If this went well, she would no longer be confined by the wand on the desk, which never worked properly for her - nor would any wand. They stunted her magic, which was so powerful that sometimes she felt like she would be consumed by it, when she let it out naturally, non-verbally and without a wand, she was ten times the average witch. 

Unfortunately having this sort of power did not mean having matching skill. Ava’s magic was often misdirected or much more powerful than she intended it to be. Her mood had a great effect on things around her - whenever she was angry or upset things would start exploding. Like she was still a child who could not control it. 

Having practised meticulously though, Ava was confident she was now under control. She avoided all stressful situations, was amicable with everybody - excluding Cepheus Lestrange but he hardly counted as a person - she was always happy and never lost control. 

She wanted to be free to use her abilities in class, to show her teachers the true extent of her power and hone it. She didn’t want to have to use the wand anymore or hide her true self from her friends. If Dippet agreed, this would all be possible for her. If not, she would have to try again next year. 

“Avaline, I am ever so sorry,” he started, and Ava already knew where he was going and she deflated. Too disappointed to even correct the use of her full name. 

“But I do not feel that this risk is warranted. Yes you have it under control today. But what about tomorrow? What about when you get over-confident in class? I am afraid I will not allow my students to be at risk” 

Ava nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. 

“However,” she looked up hopefully and Dippet smiled. 

“I think it is high time the rest of the staff were informed of your capabilities and therefore all of your practical exams can be taken with or without your wand.” 

Thinking it was a small victory, Ava forced a smile. 

“Thank you Professor.” 

“Now, chop chop, I am pretty certain,” Dippet checked his watch, “that you have just missed the prefect’s meeting. If you catch up with Mr Riddle at some point today I have no doubt he will be able to inform you on what you missed.” 

Ava stood up and walked out of the office, fighting a strong urge to slam the door behind her. If Dippet thought she could take her exams how she wanted and was prepared to tell the staff - why could she not tell her friends?! Learn how to control her powers in class better? His logic made no sense to her and the more she thought about it the angrier she became. 

She walked out from behind the gargoyle, positively seething, tiny cracks appeared on the grey stone that she walked on and lightning bolts crackled under the skin of her fingertips. 

“Rochford.” a deep voice called to her from the end of the corridor. Ava stopped and turned, forcing a smile onto her face.

“Oh, hello Riddle,” she dug her nails into her palms as she fought to keep calm. 

“You missed the prefects meeting” Tom said, coming to a stop near her and looking between Ava and the gargoyle suspiciously. 

“Oh goodness!” Ava clapped a hand to her forehead, feigning an apology that she did not feel in the slightest. 

“I’m so sorry, I forgot, did I miss anything important?” 

She sounded completely genuine and her expression betrayed nothing about her meeting with Dippet and how annoyed she still was about it. 

Tom pulled a folded piece of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to her slowly. He wasn’t sure why, but he did not believe for a second that Ava had ‘forgotten’ the meeting. He knew this as surely as he knew that she had just come out of some sort of meeting with the headmaster. Even if he could prove none of this. 

“Thanks Riddle.” She grinned at him, taking the parchment and scanning over it. 

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night then,” she looked up at him with a coy expression. Teasing him helped let some of the anger she felt at Dippet leak out of her. She unclenched her fist and relaxed.

“I beg your pardon.” Tom choked out, his eyebrows furrowing as he absorbed the implication in her words. 

“For patrol,” she flashed the front side of the parchment to him with yet another grin - a real one - before turning around and walking away, heading to the common room. Tom watched her go with narrowed eyes. 

Ava laughed to herself at the look on Riddle’s face when she had deliberately made it sound like they had some sort of personal meeting. Making him squirm was extremely entertaining and made her feel one hundred times better. Besides, getting angry at Dippet only further proved his point about her being dangerous to her peers. 

Ava decided in that instant that this would be the year without any incidences. No accidents, no mood swings, nothing. Then next year Dippet would have no excuse to keep her chained to her wand like a prisoner. 


	3. A Liar Knows That She's a Liar

The next morning, Ava was up before anyone else in the dorm - eager to start the year off on a good note. She showered and dried her hair with a flutter of her fingers, beaming at her reflection in the mirror when her silver blonde hair fell to her shoulders dry, straight and perfect. Although she was not the biggest fan of the Hogwarts uniform, she felt her customisation of her blouses to have a cinched waist and the addition of several mismatched buttons to the bottom of her Slytherin tie made the whole ensemble much more bearable. 

She scribbled a note to Erin to let her know that she had already left before setting off to the library. There were a couple of things she wanted to check out before getting her breakfast while she had a minute to herself. 

Madame Fredrichs was not at her post by the library entrance, probably owing to the fact that it was six thirty in the morning. Ava did not let the technicality of the library being shut stop her though. With a light touch of her fingers, the door unlocked and she walked in. 

The large library was silent and bathed in deep yellow light streaming in from the rising sun outside. The tall shelves cast long shadows on the wood panelled floor, which creaked a little under Ava’s footsteps. 

Ava bit her lip as she looked around. She wasn’t sure where to begin on her hunt for books on wandless magic. If the librarian were here she might have asked her but since she wasn’t... 

Well, since no one was there, it didn’t matter how she retrieved the books anyway. She raised her arms and used a summoning charm silently.

About five large, dusty volumes flew up into the air and pelted towards her, hitting her one by one in the stomach and knocking the wind out of her. 

Ava doubled up and gasped for air. Maybe that wasn’t the smartest idea she’d ever had, but it was effective nonetheless. She gathered up the books from the floor and carried them over to the nearest table, tensing her stomach as she did so because it still hurt rather a lot. 

Sifting through the titles of each book in turn, she was disappointed. ‘The Most Gifted Wandless Wizards of Our Time’, ‘Perfecting Minor Wandless Magic Over Many Years’, ‘Wandless Magic, Why Most Cannot Manage’. 

Useless, useless, useless, she thought as she heaved each one aside. 

Finally she came across, ‘Born Wandless’. Curiously she flipped the book open and read the contents, elated as she realised this was exactly what she had been searching for. 

It’s topics ranged from famous witches and wizards who had never needed wands, why wandless wizards are so rare, how it is thought to occur in those that have it, instructions on perfecting it and so on. 

She took it up to Madame Frederichs and checked it out, writing her name on the blank login the inside page and cramming it into her schoolbag.

 

 

“I can’t believe we have History of Magic first thing on a Monday.” Erin groaned as the Slytherin table received their timetables from Slughorn at breakfast. 

“At least you have a free period after though, I’m stuck with Ancient Runes.” Ava grimaced at the sight of her Monday. It was by far the worst day on the table. 

Down the table, the fifth and sixth year Slytherin boys were exclaiming loudly about their timetables also. Their boisterous behaviour was gaining many raised eyebrows, including Ava and Erin’s. 

“God, they’ll never grow up, will they?” Erin said, looking at them with minor disgust. 

“And they have purest blood society has to offer. Ugh.” 

The loud group suddenly quietened down, all at the same time. Looking back down the table again, Ava noticed that Riddle - who had been sitting in the middle of the boys with his nose in a book - had looked up and was giving a very unimpressed expression. 

The others talked quietly amongst themselves from then on, throwing Riddle furtive glances as he went back to his book. How peculiar. 

History of Magic was painful to say the least. Ava was one of the best students in the year, but even she could not force herself to pay attention to Professor Binns as he paced up and down the front of the room, lecturing them on something or another. 

One of the reasons Ava found the subject so hard was because it was one of the few that she didn’t have a natural advantage in. To make up for this, she dedicated a lot of her free time to learning the dates, battles and movements that Professor Binns described to save having to pay attention in class. 

She stared out of the window she sat beside blankly, her mind far from the September sunshine that cast light onto her blank parchment. She wondered what it would take for Dippet to realise that she would never learn full control if he continued to make her suppress her power. If only she could use it for everyday things in class, maybe it wouldn’t react so violently with her emotions. 

She was pulled from her reverie when a scrunched up ball of parchment hit her forehead. 

“Finally.” Lachlan said when her light blue eyes focussed on him. 

“Class has ended, I figured you weren’t paying attention.” He was leaning on the desk in front of hers, the rest of the class were packing up their things while she had remained oblivious. 

“Sorry,” she smiled at him, shoving her stuff into her bag and pulling it onto her shoulder. 

“We have Ancient Runes right?” 

“You do,” he replied, laughing as he ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair. 

“Most of us inferior beings opted against it” 

Ava rolled her eyes at him as they left the room, Erin was too busy chatting to Charles Macmillan from Ravenclaw to notice. 

“It isn’t a smart people subject, you just don’t have the attention span.” 

Lachlan shrugged, the corner of his lips pulling up into a smirk. 

“I know what I’m about darling and it is not Ancient Runes, it’s about the beautiful free period I’m about to enjoy,” He waggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed, walking backwards away from him down the corridor. 

“Whatever little Lach-y I’ll see you in hell!” She called back to him and he lifted his hand in farewell before walking away. 

Ava walked quickly up two floors and down a corridor, pushing her way through the crowds of students in transition until she came across her Ancient Runes class. Only Tom Riddle and Alphard Black were in the room, sitting at desks apart from one another. Alphard wasn’t really apart of Riddle’s gang so it wasn’t surprising. 

“Hey Alphard,” Ava said brightly as she threw down her things on the table beside him. Professor Sillious hadn’t arrived yet and apparently neither had half of the class. 

“Good morning gorgeous,” Alphard winked at her and she laughed. 

“The last I heard you were spoken for mister,” she scolded playfully. 

Alphard shrugged, pleased with Ava’s light, flirty tone. He always got a thrill out of flirting with girls and Ava Rochford was the creme de la creme of flirts. 

“There are lots of girls who have decided to give themselves the title of being my girlfriend lately darling, to whom are you referring?” 

“Olive Hornby might’ve mentioned something in the girl’s toilets,” Ava said with a wicked grin, pulling her books and parchment from her bag. 

Alphard looked horrified. 

“Olive Hornby in _fourth year_?” He asked incredulously. 

“Apparently so.” 

“Absolutely not.” 

Alphard was so shocked and horrified that Olive was spreading such lies, he didn’t notice Ava leaning closer to him until her lips were inches from his ear. 

“Well that’s a relief, I thought your standards were much,” she blew a warm breath, “higher.” 

Alphard’s eyes widened for a second before his expression settled into a smirk as Ava moved away, writing the date at the top of her parchment and pushing her incredibly light hair over one shoulder. 

“You’re such a tease darling.” He said, a grin stretching his face as he leant one elbow on their table and turned to face her. 

Ava crossed one leg over the other and looked up at his coyly. 

“You love it.” She winked. Alphard’s eyes drifted to the stretch of bare leg that had become visible between the hem of her skirt and the stockings on her thighs. 

“I most certainly do.” He said, smirking at her. 

A second later Professor Sillious walked into the room, her wild, wispy grey hair looking like a cloud around her lined face. 

“Only four of you this year? The smallest class I’ve had in a while, I have twelve in my other fifth year class.” She said, pulling her wand from her pocket and rapping the chalkboard with it dramatically. 

Ava couldn’t quite tell whether she was talking to them or herself before she realised that Professor Sillious had said four students. She looked behind her and saw that Charles Macmillan - the blonde boy Erin had been talking to after History of Magic - had joined them. 

Complicated symbols and patterns emerged on the board where Professor Sillious’ wand had touched it, spiralling across the board. 

“Well I feel as though having you spread out is pointless, it would be much easier if you two-” she pointed at Tom and Charles, “come and join this table,” she put her hands on the table Alphard and Ava shared. There was an empty seat on Alphard’s left and one on Ava’s right. 

Obediently, the two boys collected their things and went over to the table. Charles took the seat next to Alphard which left Tom with the one beside Ava. His expression remained stoic as he sat down and he didn’t so much as glance at her. He kept his dark eyes trained on the runes on the board. 

“If you’ll open your rune dictionaries to chapter one, you should be able to make a start translating what is written on the board. If you need help with an interpretation, feel free to ask.” With that and a smile, Professor Sillious turned her back to us and went over to sit at her desk. 

Ava exchanged a bemused glance at Alphard before flipping through her dictionary to the appropriate page. A sudden movement to her right made Ava glance at Tom’s parchment. Impossibly, he had already started to transcribe and translate the first line of symbols on the board. His handwriting was the most perfect form of cursive she had ever seen. The letters were long, thin and elegant. It was like something out of the eighteenth century, an art form in it’s own right. 

Self consciously Ava blocked any view Tom may have had of her messy, loopy scrawl. Stupid smart Riddle and his stupid handwriting. She thought angrily, searching the page before her in vain for the first symbol she needed. She gritted her teeth in frustration and felt a surge of energy rush up her spine, charging the air around her for a second. 

The feeling was similar to the rush you get in your stomach before vomiting, just in the wrong place on her body. Ava closed her eyes, rolled her shoulders back and took a few deep breaths. She was in control. It was silly to get worked up over this, she needed to stay happy. 

Although on her left Alphard had continued working diligently, not noticing the static charge that had graced the air momentarily, Tom had stopped writing mid word the moment she had felt the rush. When she opened her eyes again, it was only to feel a jolt deep in her stomach as she locked gazes with him. His look was so intense and the dark, chocolate brown outer ring of his iris contrasted so deeply with the amber and green flecks near his pupil that it was impossible for her to catch a breath. 

She had never been this close to him before and suddenly she was extremely aware of him. Slowly, Ava dragged her eyes away from his and tucked her silvery blonde hair behind her ear. Staring at the desk was far more favourable than looking up at that moment. 

The rest of her classes proved uninteresting. She had a break before her free period and divination before lunch, luckily Erin was available to keep her company throughout all of this and then it was Transfiguration, the last lesson of the day. 

Usually Ava was very attentive during Professor Dumbledore’s classes as they consisted of lots of activity. However her first day had dragged and all Ava wanted to do was head to her dormitory for a nap before dinner and her prefect duties. 

When the class finally ended, Ava was first out of her seat, flitting out of the room like her seat was on fire. She didn’t even wait for Erin as she hurried along a secret passage that cut the journey from the transfiguration corridor to the dungeons in half, emerging from behind a tapestry at the top of the stairs which led down to the corridor where the Slytherin common room was located. 

She didn’t care that she had Runes to finish translating or History of Magic notes to catch up on, she fell straight into one of the plush arm chairs in the common room, curled up and fell asleep. 

After a couple of hours, in the delicate stage between sleeping and waking, Ava felt the uncomfortable sensation of being watched. Opening her eyes slowly, she was startled to find Cepheus Lestrange crouched on the floor beside her, his wand inches from her nose. 

Angrily she shoved him backwards and sat up, cracking out her back which was aching from staying in the same position for so long. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She demanded as Lestrange fell backwards, having been knocked off balance and landed on his tailbone. 

“I told you she’d wake up.” Cael Avery was lounging on the sofa by Ava’s armchair, his gangly limbs spread out across it. He nodded to Ava when she looked at him and she nodded back. 

“I was only having some fun Rochford.” Lestrange said once he had righted himself and sat down on the coffee table in front of her, running a hand through his shoulder length brown hair that looked vaguely greasy. 

“Thought I’d fix that terrible attitude of yours while I had the chance.” He leaned forwards and tapped Ava’s forehead with his wand again. 

“If you don’t get out of my face Lestrange, you will lose an appendage that I’m sure is very precious to you.” 

“You can’t stop thinking about my dick can you?” Lestrange winked at her grotesquely. 

Ava snorted, “If I was thinking about your dick it would have been a much shorter thought.” She replied, inspecting her fingernails as Lestrange gritted his teeth. On the sofa, Avery was chortling at the pair of them. 

“What did you have for breakfast this morning? Bitch flakes?” Lestrange said, clearly grasping at straws for a witty response. 

Ava raised an eyebrow at him as if to ask whether that was the best he could do. 

“Why don’t we play a game of fuck off, you go first,” she said and flipped him the bird before standing up and fixing her hair from where she had been sleeping on it. 

“Have I missed dinner?” She asked Cael pleasantly, ignoring the murderous look on Lestrange’s face. 

“If you go now you might catch dessert.” He replied, also ignoring Cepheus, who looked outraged at his friend’s lack of support. 

“Thanks.” With that Ava walked away, feeling much better than before. Even though she hated Lestrange more than anyone, out cussing him in an argument was one of the most sure fire ways to make her day better. 

On her way out, she checked her appearance in the mirror that hung by the door. She smoothed her long silvery hair and inspected her elfin features for signs of damage that Lestrange might have secretly inflicted. Satisfied that she did not have a sudden outbreak of acne or a third eye, she left the common room. 

It turned out that she even missed dessert and the Great Hall doors were closed by the time she reached them. She rubbed her stomach sadly but resolved to go to the kitchens before bed to get a snack. 

“There you are.” She turned, looking around the entrance hall for the person who had spoken. Tom Riddle had just come out of the doorway that led to the dungeons. 

“Riddle? Oh, patrol.” She said, his presence reminding her of it. 

Tom nodded and gestured for them to climb the main staircase, which she obliged. The patrol was scheduled to last for an hour, after which the head boy and girl would take over to make sure everyone was in bed. 

They walked in silence for a while, Ava keeping her personal space in tact as she walked beside him, since he towered over her by around seven inches. 

She noticed Tom’s hand was clenched tight around the wand in his pocket the entire time, even though there was no need at all. She checked her own pockets and realised she had actually forgotten her own fake wand and left it in her bag. 

“I wanted to ask you something,” Tom murmured softly, his voice carefully controlled. It was the kind of voice that made Ava weak at the knees, but she heard the control in it, the tone Alphard sometimes used when he was trying to charm her. 

“Yes?” She asked, not daring to look up into his electrifying eyes as she had earlier. Instead she focused on his prefect badge, which was pinned closer to her eye level on his robes. 

“What happened in Ancient Runes?” He asked, his voice like drizzled honey. Ava bit her lip and looked down the corridor, worry clouding her mind. He was unusually perceptive. No one had ever noticed her power before and the way she had charged the air in Ancient Runes was one of the most subtle losses of control she’d ever had. 

“We translated symbols from the board?” She answered, forcing herself to look and sound confused. 

“I meant specifically something that you did,” his voice sounded more cold this time as he lost patience with her. Most people told him exactly what he wanted to know, when he wanted to know it. He wasn’t accustomed to them not reacting appropriately to his charm. 

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about Riddle,” Ava made herself look up into his brilliant eyes, which were darkened by the shadows cast by the candlelight in the hallway. He stopped walking, his eyes boring into hers. 

Ava stopped walking too, keeping her pale blue eyes wide and innocent. 

“You’re lying.” He said dangerously, his temper rising. She could see it flickering across his handsome face. 

“I’m not?” She smiled like this was all a joke, secretly amused by the amount of anger ‘goody two shoes Tom Riddle’ was keeping just below the surface. She began to walk away agin.

“One thing I can’t abide, Rochford, is being lied to,” he hissed, seizing her wrist tightly to prevent her walking away. It was clear to her why the group of boys he was friends with looked to him like a leader. He apparently had anger issues and with magical skill like his it was easy to see how he usually got his way.

Ava cocked an eyebrow in response and let a smile play around her lips. 

“Tom, I'm not sure what you are accusing me of but I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

She sounded the perfect balance of earnest and playful. Her cool eyes gave nothing away and it didn’t go unnoticed by her that Tom’s grip relaxed when she used his first name. 

Tom surveyed her for a second before composing his features once more. 

“Forgive me,” he released her hand. 

“It seems I was mistaken.” 

Ava straightened her robes as she took a step away from the dark haired boy and grinned. 

“That’s quite alright.”

He nodded at her, barely containing his rage still. She was lying to him, he knew it. 

“If you don’t mind, I’m going back to the common room, we only have five minutes left and I’m exhausted.” She said conversationally as she checked her watch. Outwardly showing no signs that anything out of the ordinary had just occurred. 

“Not at all.” He said, watching her beam at him with an analytical gaze. 

“Thanks Riddle, see you later.” 

He watched her walk away quite happily, not appearing shaken at all.

Her smile had been blinding, even as he threatened her. It intrigued him as much as it infuriated him. He had never paid much mind to Ava Rochford in the past. Nor had any other girl stolen his attention. Were they all like that? Or was it just her? 

Now he came to think about it, he had seen girls crying all over the bloody place at Hogwarts. It made him extremely uncomfortable when they decided to start blubbering in lessons or in the common room. He had seen girls angry - yelling at their boyfriends in the great hall or at their friends in the midst of an argument. He had definitely seen girls show a whole spectrum of emotion in his five years at the school, but never could he recall Ava Rochford being anything other than completely, nauseatingly happy. 

Surely there was something. He continued walking down the corridor, lost in thought. She must have done badly on a test and been upset at some point? No, she was top of the class in everything - only tying with himself. Occasionally besting him, not that he’d ever admit it aloud. She had been in an argument with her friends? No recollection of anything like that happening either. 

There was nothing. Absolutely nothing that Tom could remember Ava Rochford being other than polite, kind and happy. Even when she argued with Lestrange she did not seem unhappy, maybe disgusted, but not angry or sad.

That wasn’t normal. That was a facade. It was to cover something up, he was positive. No one could act like that all of the time. And it had something to do with what happened in Ancient Runes... 

He was frustrated, he felt like he had a puzzle that was missing several pieces. 

Well, he would just have to break her facade to find those pieces. He decided resolutely, walking down to the common room himself to retire for the night. 


	4. Love Thy Enemy

Ava found it easy to settle back into her school life. Living with her Aunt over the summer wasn’t unbearable but it was incredibly lonely. The huge manor only housed the two of them and the two kitchen house elves. Her aunt Hestia preferred to act as though Ava were a temporary house guest rather than a permanent fixture in her life, so her bedroom at home was void of any personal items on display, as per her aunt’s request. Sitting on opposite ends of the extremely long mahogany dining table for meals was another sad truth of Ava’s holidays. Remaining silent as her aunt ranted about muggleborns and muggles. 

Therefore settling back into Hogwarts, where everyone was warm and friendly; where she could eat at a loud, crowded table and was surrounded by friends, was one of the best parts of Ava’s year. However, one highlight of the manor that she could not share with Hogwarts was that at least in the large, empty house she was free to feel. 

She was not held back by bottling up her emotions and putting on an act, she was free to be angry and to be sad and lonely, even if she was not free to do things like see her friends. At school she had to constantly be on her guard, to not feel things too deeply and to make sure she never let a hint of her true emotion leak out. It grew to be exhausting. But she persevered to keep herself and those around her safe. 

Fortunately, there wasn’t too much to be unhappy about. The first week at school had passed without any kind of incident, either drama or magic related. 

Ava woke up on Saturday morning feeling relaxed and refreshed. She only had one Astronomy essay to finish and she was finished with all of her homework for the rest of the weekend. She decided she would head straight to the library after breakfast to get it out of the way as soon as possible. 

With this plan in mind, she smiled to herself, sitting up in bed and pulling the hangings open to let the mid morning sunshine stream across her bed. 

Erin’s bed was made and empty, but the other three girls were still sleeping behind their closed hangings. Ava pulled a hair tie from her wrist and reached to tie her hair back before heading to the bathroom to shower.

It took her a second of grasping blindly over her shoulder to realise that her head felt strangely light. She reached higher and higher, her eyes widening in panic as she finally came into contact with short, uneven strands that ended mere inches from her scalp. Dread weighed heavily in her stomach as she turned around to face her pillow, where luminescent green locks were piled either side of where her head had been.

Boiling hot rage bubbled up inside of her and without pausing for thought - because she inherently knew who the culprit was - she bellowed at the top of her lungs, 

“LESTRANGE!!” 

The four wooden posts of her bed started to quiver and the glass water jug on her beside table exploded, eliciting another scream from Ava as she ducked, narrowly missing a large chunk of glass that soared over her head. 

The shock of this forced Ava’s mind to clear and kept her anger at bay long enough for the bed to stop shaking and to see Felicia, Cecelia and Druella all pulling back the curtains on their beds, blinking at her in surprise. 

“What happened Ava?” Felicia was the first to ask, looking at Ava’s new luminous hair do in horror. 

Ava took a deep, calming breath and then forced a laugh. She climbed out of her bed and collected her things from her beside table which was soaked in water from the jug. 

“Lestrange happened” she answered, holding up ‘Born Wandless’ and watching it drip water onto the floor. 

“Let me get that for you” Cecilia said quickly, grabbing her wand and drying the book off with it. 

“Thanks” Ava smiled and picked up her own wand, wiping the water off on her bedsheets. 

“What are you going to do about your hair?” Druella wailed, sounding more distraught than Ava felt about her ruined silver blonde tresses. 

“I’m going to try out a few spells and see what I can do” Ava said with much more confidence than she felt. 

“I’m sure it’s fixable Drew, don’t worry about it” 

With that she walked into the bathroom and locked the door safely behind her before looking into the mirror to assess the damage. 

Ava would never admit to being vain, but after looking in the mirror and seeing the awful haircut in it’s putrid shade, she could not help but feel disgust at her own appearance. She had always been immensely proud of her clear skin, large eyes and long hair. They were her defining features. Now she looked like a small child had attacked her hair with paint and blunt scissors. 

Grasping the sink with one hand and running the other through her hair, Ava tried to stay concentrated. She didn’t know any exact spells for hair growth or colouring, but often with her gift she could will things into happening, even without an incantation. These displays of power tended to be more temperamental than specific spells but she didn’t have much other option. 

Here goes nothing. She thought, screwing up her face and raising both hands to her scalp. 

With a burst of energy, she concentrated first on removing the awful colour. It took a few tries but eventually she syphoned it out and her hair was back to it’s natural pale blonde. 

Next she focussed on growing it back out to the length it had been, roughly at her ribs. However, no matter how hair she tried, it would not grow an inch. 

Cursing loudly at herself and noticing the time, Ava resolved to fix it later, grabbing a pair of scissors from the bathroom cabinet and carefully trimming the uneven mess into a somewhat passable pixie cut. 

A few minutes later, she put the scissors down and bit her lip. It looked much better than before, but something still felt wrong about not having the weight of her hair to comfort her. 

She finished washing and dressing in the bathroom before she emerged to the expectant faces of her four room mates. 

“Oh darling” Erin exclaimed, obviously having returned to the dormitory while Ava tried to fix her hair. 

“I couldn’t get it to grow” she admitted, ruffling her short new cut. 

“I think we should find Professor Dumbledore as soon as possible, he’ll be able grow it back for you, you’re his star pupil after all” Erin assured her friend, standing up and leading her to the dormitory door by the hand. Although Ava wasn’t showing any outward signs of annoyance or sadness, Erin knew her friend would need support with this dramatic change. 

“Besides” she paused by the open door and quickly ran her fingers through Ava’s fringe, smoothing it out. 

“It really doesn’t look that bad” 

The other girls in the room, who had remained silent until then hastened to agree with Erin. 

“It really does suit you” 

“Without the green it is one hundred times better” 

Ava smiled at them. 

“Thanks guys” 

“Come on then” Erin tugged her out of the dormitory and along to the common room. As Ava had anticipated, Lestrange had waited for her to see his masterpiece no doubt. 

“Wow Rochford, I didn’t realise you were a cross dresser. I think my little brother has that same haircut” He said, blocking the girls’ path through the common room. Erin’s eyes narrowed at him dangerously but Ava squeezed her hand. 

“I’m still more attractive than you’ll ever be Lestrange so why don’t you go hit on some second years, they’re closer to your league” She said, knocking shoulders with him deliberately on her way past. It wasn’t as intimidating as it should have been though, considering Ava was considerably shorter than him. 

“Wow, erm new haircut?” Lachlan asked carefully when he met up with the two girls in the entrance hall. 

Erin was shooting him a warning look that told him to be polite but Ava pretended not to see. 

“Yeah, it was kind of an accident, we’re going to ask Professor Dumbledore to fix it” she replied, walking into the Great Hall to grab some toast before breakfast ended. 

“You just missed him” Lachlan said, rolling up his sleeves and following Ava to the Slytherin table. 

“I’m pretty sure he’s in Hogsmeade today as well, but you could look round for him later?” 

“Oh, yeah okay then” she replied, visibly deflating and putting down her stack of toast. 

“B-but it still looks great!” Lachlan hastily added when Erin trod on his foot. 

“It’s fine, I’ll look for him later. I need to go to the library to finish an Astronomy essay this morning so I’ll catch up with you guys later?” 

Erin and Lachlan nodded and Ava wandered away, abandoning her breakfast and rubbing the back of her neck to feel the short strands. 

The library was fairly busy when she arrived, as lots of fifth years were catching up on the week’s homework. It took a lot of weaving through tables to find one that was mostly empty right at the back of the library, the quietest part. 

Tom Riddle was the only occupant of the desk, surrounded by piles of books and parchment, writing notes hastily in his neat script. 

“Is it alright if I join you?” Ava asked politely, chewing on her lower lip. She hadn’t spoken to Riddle since their patrol on Monday but she had far from forgotten the incident. She remembered the anger that the boy had barely been able to contain. 

Riddle nodded once, not even lifting his eyes from the page he was reading. A quick glance as she walked past informed Ava that he was reading a book on wizarding genealogy. Strange. 

But then, she thought, sitting down opposite him at the desk and setting up her quill and ink from her bag, it was known that he was an orphan. Maybe he was looking for his parents. 

She felt a pang of pity for the black haired boy before quickly dismissing it. Better to never know your parents than to have them ripped away from you as she had. 

Opening the Astronomy textbook to the right page, Ava found the section of the essay that she had stopped writing at and resumed, listing the attributes of Jupiters many moons. She was quite content with the silence, saving for the scratching of both quills as it allowed her to become fully absorbed in her work and temporarily let her forget about the travesty of the morning. 

Twisting her hair between her fingers, as she so often did when she was writing - despite the hair being much shorter than normal - she was broken out of her deep concentration when Riddle’s quill stopped scratching and he spoke. 

“What on earth happened to your hair?” He asked, sounding vaguely disgusted. 

Ava looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“That’s not very polite” she scolded playfully, looking back down at her work and continuing as though there had been no interruption. She felt her anger at Lestrange bubbling up again and she tensed. Stay. Happy. 

“Tell me” 

“Why do you want to know?” she laughed at him, still refusing to look up. 

“Rochford” he warned delicately. 

Sensing the threat in his tone she met his gaze. 

“It was cut” 

“I am not blind, obviously it was cut” 

“Then don’t ask such stupid questions” 

Riddle sighed, looking exasperated. 

“Is talking to you always such hard work?” He asked smoothly, making sure not to break eye contact with her. People always reacted extremely well when he was polite. 

Ava felt a little guilty when she looked at him. He hadn’t said anything particularly rude or offensive, she was taking out her frustration on him without warrant. 

“Cepheus thought he’d pull an amusing joke on me” she conceded, letting a smirk play around her lips, determined to show that she was not bothered by Lestrange’s attempts to infuriate her. 

“And that didn’t make you upset?” Riddle inquired, his dark eyes keen with interest. He straightened up in his chair also, resting his quill on the table as he gave Ava his full attention. 

Ava observed all of this and suddenly felt like she was being analysed. 

“Not especially” she lied flippantly, turning back a page in her essay under the pretence of re-reading what she had written. 

“You didn’t feel angry at him at all?” 

“On the contrary, I was amused by his attempt to infuriate me” she replied, looking him full in the face, daring him to contradict her. He stared at her for a few more seconds before looking back down at his own work. 

“This... Animosity between you and Cepheus, what started it?” He asked, picking up his quill and rubbing his jaw as he appeared to ponder what to write next. 

“If you’re going to interrogate me Riddle, I think I’m going to move” Ava said, having had enough of his questions into her personal life and moving as if to gather her things. 

Tom lifted his hands in a surrender, “I’ll stop” he murmured, not looking up at her and seeming to lose interest in the conversation as quickly as he had gained it. 

 

Silently, Tom berated himself. He was never going to find out what she was hiding by being so obvious. He needed to be more covert than this, befriend her possibly before outright questioning her. Even if not befriending - for the very thought made him feel nauseous - he would have to inadvertently gain her trust. As a fellow prefect if nothing else. He could do this by making more of an effort to speak to her on their duties and perhaps asking a few of his faithful... Friends to keep an eye on her when he wasn’t around; so that she would not become suspicious. 

Charming her seemed temporarily out of the question, as she noticed the moment he started to pretend. He’d keep that in his back pocket though, he was certain that the right sort of flattery would get him far into her good books.

He glanced up at her again from over his pile of books, watching her toy with her freshly cut hair as she wrote.

I will break you Ava Rochford, he thought to himself. 


	5. Does Anyone Believe in Coincidence?

By Monday morning, Ava’s hair was back to its usual length, courtesy of Professor Dumbledore. She relished tying it into an intricate braid before classes were to start and silently started to plot her revenge on Lestrange. He had tried petty tricks on her in the past but nothing as bold as the hair fiasco, she wanted him to pay. 

The thoughts of covering him in painful boils or cursing his broom in the first quidditch match of the season cheered Ava immensely and she skipped into breakfast a whole hour before anyone else from her dormitory was even awake.

The Slytherin table was mostly empty, but she was pleased by this. It meant she could read her book, ‘Born Wandless’ in peace. She propped it up against a milk jug and started to eat scrambled eggs and bacon as she read. 

Not even ten minutes had passed when a familiar gangly someone sat down next to her, trying to peer over her shoulder at the thick book. 

“You do know this is the Slytherin table?” Ava said with a grin, subtly closing the book and slipping it into her bag. 

“Really?” Lachlan looked up and down in mock confusion. “I had no idea” 

“You know you’re not allowed here Ravenclaw” she teased, nudging her shoulder against his. 

“You know you love my company Slytherin” he teased back, stealing some of the bacon from her plate and digging in. 

“Rochford, tell your mudblood pet that if he wants to keep his filthy blood running through his veins he should go back to where he belongs” Lestrange had joined the table and sat opposite Ava and Lachlan. 

Ava clenched her fists in outrage. 

“He has far more right to be here than you do Cepheus, at least Lachlan qualifies as a human being. Which is far more than can be said for you” 

Lestrange raised a dark eyebrow challengingly at her. 

“I-it’s alright Ava, I’ll see you in History of Magic” Lachlan got up quickly and walked back to his table. 

“No medals for bravery among your friends” Lestrange commented with a smirk. 

Ava’s felt colour rising to her cheeks in anger. 

“Unlike you, some people don’t enjoy confrontation” 

“Unlike me, some people are _afraid_ of confrontation” 

Ava took a deep breath through her nose. She needed to stay calm. Lestrange would get what was coming to him soon. There was no point in losing her composure now. 

“You disgust me” she said, smiling sweetly before grabbing her bag and walking to Potions early. 

Fortunately, Erin caught up with her as she was leaving the hall and together they walked down to the dungeons. 

“I’d love to wipe that smirk off of Lestrange’s face” she hissed, cracking her knuckles as the pair leaned against the stone wall outside their Potions classroom. 

“I’m plotting my revenge for the hair incident as we speak” Ava replied. 

They talked a little more before the rest of the class started to arrive and Professor Slughorn came bounding down the corridor to let them in. 

Ava and Erin sat next to each other at a desk in the back row and started to set up their cauldrons when Professor Slughorn called over the class; 

“I hope you’re not getting too comfortable, I will be assigning new partners for the rest of term” 

The two girls exchanged disappointed looks, last week Slughorn hadn’t mentioned anything about assigned partners. 

“Don’t worry Ave, we’ll sit together in Charms” Erin said quietly, brushing her dark fringe from her eyes and patting her neat bun to make sure it was still in place. 

Slughorn started reading out names alphabetically, pairing up those next to each other in that order. 

“Oh god I hope I’m not stuck with a Gryffindor” Erin whined as Felicia Carrow was partnered with Miles Croft, a Gryffindor muggleborn. 

“Tom Riddle, Avaline Rochford” Slughorn called out, pointing to a desk in the third row without looking up from his sheet. Ava rolled her eyes. Before this year she had never spoken to Tom Riddle and now she couldn’t seem to escape him. 

“Lucky you” Erin said, winking at her. 

“He’s not even that attractive” Ava grumbled to her friend as she picked up her things and delicately walked to the desk Slughorn had indicated, making sure not to drop anything she had balanced in her arms. 

As she started setting up for the second time, ignoring the dark haired boy next to her, she heard, 

“Erin Shafiq, Leonardo Selwyn” and fought to contain a laugh. So Erin was stuck with a Gryffindor. A very tall, blonde and handsome one at that. 

Sitting in front of her was the familiar mess of black hair that belonged to Alphard Black. As though he sensed her gaze, he turned and winked at her over his shoulder and she poked her tongue out in response. 

“This lesson you will be using page 36 of your textbooks to brew an Anti-Paralysis potion with your partner. All of the ingredients you will require will be in the store cupboard and I will check your progress periodically throughout the lesson. Begin!” With a clap of his hands and a jovial smile, Slughorn moved to the front of the class and watched them all turn pages in their books. 

“We just keep being thrown together don’t we?” Ava said, amusement twinkling in her large blue eyes as she turned to face Riddle. 

“It would appear so” he agreed, looking at her as though he were x-raying her skull. She turned back to her book and flicked it to the right page

“I’ll get the ingredients shall I?” Tom asked politely from Ava’s side, not even bothering to consult his own book as she read through the method. 

“Okay” she agreed and he left, again without picking up his book to see what they would need. 

Ava scowled at the back of his head, perfect prefect Riddle who knew all of his potions off by heart. 

She half hoped he would return with the wrong ingredients or the wrong measurements at least. But everything was perfect. It annoyed her but she didn’t let her annoyance show. She simply stoked the fire beneath their cauldron with the tip of her wand unnecessarily and began chopping beetle wings. 

“I see your hair grew back” Riddle said after a few quiet minutes. His voice sounded strained, as though he had to force the words out. 

Ava couldn’t help but smile at his attempt at conversation. 

“Yes, Professor Dumbledore fixed it for me” she replied, scraping some frogspawn into the cauldron and reading the next step on the instructions. 

She didn’t notice Tom’s hand tense on the knife he was holding at the mention of his least favourite teacher. She couldn’t think of anything else to say so they continued their work in silence, occasionally asking the other to pass them something. 

At the end of the lesson, Professor Slughorn came round and appraised everyone’s work. Ava and Tom were one of the only pairs to achieve the perfect aubergine purple described in the textbook. 

“Well done, well done! Two of my best students of course I wouldn’t have expected anything less” Slughorn fawned over them. Tom smiled painfully at the flattery, but Ava, like the amazing actress she was, took it all in her stride. 

“Thank you Professor, you’re too kind” she said charmingly with a wide smile. Tom watched this, as he had been watching her scrupulously over the last few days

He had found that the more he observed Ava Rochford, the more there was to see. Now that had been looking closely, he saw how her laughs and smiles didn’t always touch her eyes and occasionally they seemed ever so slightly overdone. Not that anyone else noticed, but that was because they weren’t paying attention. 

She rolled her eyes a lot when she didn’t think anyone was looking and a crinkle appeared between her eyebrows whenever she had to stop herself from glaring at someone. Ava Rochford seemed physically incapable of being anything but utterly pleasant in the company of others. But Tom saw her eyebrows rise in response to being corrected, the look of disdain in her eyes when being told to practise a spell she had obviously mastered. 

She was secretly calculating. Every word she spoke was measured to produce the exact effect she desired, which from what he observed, all she desired was to keep everyone around her happy. 

But why was she bothering with all of this? Was the question that plagued his mind. The closest she came to showing anger was her verbal battles with Lestrange. So if he were to make her angry, maybe that was the answer. But how best to do it?

Slughorn finished going around the room and class ended but Tom was still lost in thought. 

“I’ll see you after dinner for patrol?” Ava asked him once she had packed her things. He didn’t respond. 

“Hello? Riddle?” She waved a hand in front of his face and he seemed to come back to earth. 

“I’ll see you later for patrol?” She repeated, watching his features for a hint as to what he had been thinking about. 

“Yes, of course” he said smoothly, standing up and pulling his schoolbag onto his shoulder. 

As he walked out of the room - Ava having to wait for Erin to pull herself away from talking to Leonardo Selwyn - she cocked her head, realising that she had lied to Erin earlier. He really was very attractive. 

Professor Slughorn bustled out of the room after his students, leaving his private store cupboard door wide open behind the desk. Ava, Erin and Leonardo were the only three left in the room so Ava made the quick decision, she needed to swipe something to give Lestrange. She darted into the cupboard, squinted at a few labels on different shaped and sized crystal bottles before she found the perfect one. 

Lestrange wouldn't know what hit him. 

 

 

“What happened to your so called hatred of all Gryffindors?” Ava teased at dinner, watching Erin try and catch Leonardo’s eye from across the room. 

“Well he is a pureblood, so he can’t be all bad” Erin reasoned, leaning sideways in her seat to get a better look at the back of the blonde boy’s head. Ava laughed at her friend and pushed mashed potato around her plate. She hadn’t been feeling like eating much as of late, but she didn’t know why. 

“What on earth are you doing?” Alphard asked Erin as he came to sit across from her, taking the empty seat on Ava’s left. 

“Fantastic, you’re blocking my view” Erin huffed, pushing her dark hair back and patting it down, still trying to look over Alphard’s shoulder. This wasn’t easy, as Alphard was one of the tallest Slytherin boys in the year, already nearing 6 foot in height. 

“Do you think you could deflate your head a bit then maybe I could see over it” She said in a sweet voice, finally looking Alphard in the eyes. He chuckled in response and helped himself to the roast beef between them. 

“Perhaps what you’re looking for is right under your nose love” he sent her a wink and she rolled her eyes. Ava smiled as she watched them, from her perspective the two of them just needed to release the sexual tension between them and be done with it, but Erin was adamant that she would not touch a Black since her parents were trying to arrange for her to marry one. 

Just then, the loud chatter at the table dropped for a second, quietening down before picking back up again. A glance down the table informed Ava that Lestrange, Malfoy and Riddle had just sat down, all three of them looking rather pleased with themselves. 

Riddle met Ava’s gaze for a second as she observed the trio and she quickly looked away, not wanting to seem as though she was staring. 

“Speaking of looking right under our noses” Erin said, having watched this minuscule exchange with rapt interest. 

“You haven’t exactly been giving me much gossip about Tom darling” 

“What are you talking about?” Ava asked exasperatedly, not appreciating when Erin tried to project her own boy obsession onto her. 

“Well you patrol with him at least once a week, you’re partners in potions, you told me he’s one of the only people in your Ancient Runes class-” 

“Hey!” Alphard interjected, “I’m in that class too!” 

Erin ignored him. 

“I mean he is utterly gorgeous and since you get to spend all this time with him...” 

She gave a suggestive look. Ava rolled her eyes. 

“When have you ever seen Tom Riddle seem remotely interested in girls” 

“Well I haven’t seen him interested in guys either so I’m going with the balance of probability” 

Erin winked while Alphard choked on his drink. 

“He’s not even that good looking” Alphard grumbled, wiping pumpkin juice from his chin with the back of his hand. 

“Are you blind? He is the best looking boy, scratch that, best looking _person_ in the whole school!” Erin said, throwing a napkin at him, which he caught expertly. 

“My point is, you must want something to, y’know, happen?” Erin said, putting Ava back on the spot. 

She played with her long hair, twisting strands between her fingers as she pondered Erin’s words. 

“I’ll admit he’s attractive” she said at last, knowing Erin wouldn’t let it drop unless she said something to that effect. 

“But he just seems so... Cold. I wouldn’t want someone like that” she shrugged and looked up. 

Alphard was looking at her with his mouth agape. 

“I thought you had better taste sweetheart” he said at last, putting down his knife and fork. Ava shrugged again. She meant what she had said. 

“Doesn’t mean you can’t have a bit of fun with him” Erin said consolingly as she stood up. 

“I feel like making a start on that Charms homework while it’s fresh in my mind. You coming?” 

“Yeah, sure” Ava said, standing up and following Erin out of the great hall. 

 

Later that evening, Ava watched from her spot in the corner with Erin as Tom silently rose from his little gang in front of the fire and walked to the door, throwing one glance her way as he went. 

She took this to mean it was time for patrol and hastily shoved her perfect Transfiguration essay into her bag and kicked it under the table.

“I’ll see you upstairs” she said to Erin, who was still working on her Transfiguration essay with her tongue stuck between her teeth. She spared one moment to waggle her eyebrows at Ava before looking back down again, scratching her head with the end of her quill. 

“After you” he said politely once she had reached his side. She nodded and slipped though the door, into the dungeon corridor outside. 

“I hope this doesn’t take too long” she said, stretching out her neck and yawning. 

“I am absolutely shattered” 

Tom cocked his head a little as he watched her but said nothing and the pair started to walk down the corridor. 

“We have Ancient Runes first thing tomorrow as well” Ava grumbled, partially to herself as she untied her braid and ran her fingers through her long wavy hair. 

“You don’t like Runes?” He asked, catching onto the change in her tone. 

“It is a horrific subject” she said nonchalantly, looking up at him.

“You can’t tell me you enjoy it” 

Tom shrugged. “It’s neither my favourite nor my least favourite” 

“What a diplomatic answer” she laughed and Tom let the corner of his mouth curl upwards also. She was very perceptive of his avoidance tactics. 

“It’s my least favourite, I prefer practical subjects” she went on, using her hands to emphasise her point. 

“But you take Divination instead of Herbology” 

Ava raised an eyebrow at him playfully. 

“Been stalking me Riddle?” 

“You’re not in my class” he answered, straight faced. Ava sighed, her fun flirtations were lost on the boy. Alphard would have responded appropriately to that line.

“My Aunt Hestia’s second cousin has the ‘sight’” she used finger quotations, “so she forced me to take it, not to mention she loves everything to be clean and tidy and the thought of me being interested in plants and dirt might kill her” 

“You don’t live with your parents” Tom replied, it wasn’t a question but a statement. 

“No, I don’t” she agreed, offering no more information on the subject. She couldn’t believe that she had spent the last five years in the same house as this boy and he didn’t know that, she knew about his parents after all. Besides, they could have easily laughed about her Aunt but he decided to pick out the most sombre part of her sentence. 

“Do you like Herbology?” She asked, attempting to divert the conversation. 

“Are they dead?” He asked, ignoring her question completely, his face impassive. 

She visibly tensed and a muscle jumped in her jaw. 

“Yes they are” 

“How did they die?” 

“They were murdered” she said through gritted teeth as she abruptly turned down a corridor, changing their initial route. 

“Grindelwald’s forces” he said, his eyes lighting up as he matched up the time frames. 

“You must have been young” 

“Yes” Ava’s fists clenched. 

“You dislike your Aunt”

She said nothing. The audacity of making these assumptions let alone saying them aloud to her was despicable. He clearly had no manners or interpersonal skills. 

“You don’t go home for Christmas, you try to be friends with as many people as possible to feel some affection, you prefer being in the company of your friends to compensate for your lack of family-”

“Right on all counts” she interrupted his spiel of observations about her. She felt wretched having all of these things dictated to her as though read from a book. They were all true, but having them said aloud by someone she did not even consider a friend... Tears stung the back of her eyes and her jaw ached from holding them back. 

She couldn’t even tell whether she was angry or upset but she knew she wanted Riddle to stop talking. She was going to lose it if he didn’t. 

She forced a weak smile. 

“I don’t feel very well, I think I’m going to turn in early. Sorry” Then, she turned on her heel and walked away without waiting for a response, she didn’t even look at him. It wasn’t until she was in the next corridor that she slumped down onto the floor at the foot of a window. It was dark outside, but she could still see the rain splattered against the pane. 

She traced the droplets with her fingertips - lightly brushing the glass, the cold calmed her briefly before Riddle’s words echoed once more in her mind and the truth of them crippled her. How dare he say those things to her. How dare he make those kinds of assumptions, he had known her for all of two minutes. 

Without realising, she pressed her fingertips harder on the glass and it slowly turned a deep opaque red. It wasn’t until a large crack sounded and a jagged line appeared on the window that she broke out of her reverie and backed swiftly away from the glass. It wasn’t broken, no real damage had been done. 

Looking swiftly left and right, she found the corridor mercifully deserted and so she ran back to the common room. 

As she rushed through to her dormitory, she didn’t notice Malfoy nudge Riddle at her entrance, nor his dark eyes follow her until she had left the room. 


	6. Just Feeling Confident

The next morning, Ava rubbed the circles under her eyes away with her fingertips; for once having her magic perfectly under control. It was a new day. She was going to make it a good one. Revenge on Lestrange was top of her list of things to look forward to, the thought certainly kept her mood up.

She spent a little longer than she normally would have in the bathroom, curling the ends of her long hair and playing around with some make up she had bought over the summer. Smoothing down her skirt she gave herself a cheeky wink in the mirror before smiling and leaving the room. 

“Up, up, up” she sang to the other girls in the room, most of whom were half hanging out of bed. 

Erin groaned loudly and threw an arm over her head. 

“Go away” 

“Nope, it’s a beautiful day darling” 

Ava threw back the curtain to show deep grey clouds and a steady drizzle outside. Erin raised a dark eyebrow but Ava shushed her. 

“Not a word, I’ll see you at breakfast in ten” 

It is going to be a great day, Ava thought to herself and she strode confidently through the common room, tossing her hair over her shoulder and smiling at some of the first years that were grouped around. 

“You look like a woman on a mission” Alphard commented, catching up to her just as she reached the door. 

Ava beamed at him, “It’s a new day Alphie” she teased, fixing his crooked tie for him and smoothing his messy black hair. 

“I’m feeling good about it” 

“Don’t call me that” he grumbled, rumpling his hair up again but he couldn’t help but crack a smile at her enthusiasm, it radiated from her in waves. 

Ava’s good mood lasted all the way through Ancient Runes and Transfiguration, which benefitted her greatly as her magic was fully cooperative with her and she excelled in everything she tried. She made sure both Alphard and Charles sat between herself and Riddle in Runes which worked wonderfully.

One thing her mind deliberately did not contemplate for any length of time was Riddle. 

She did not think about what he said, she did not think about how he said it, she did not even think about the fact that Tom Riddle existed and it suited her perfectly. 

Until break. 

“Might I have a word” 

Erin, Ava and Lachlan had been huddled together in one of the blustery courtyards, discussing the mountain of homework that they still had to do. The sky was still overcast but the rain had stopped, being replaced by cold winds. 

Tom had approached them quietly from behind, carefully planning his choice of contact in the way the girl was least able to avoid him. 

Ava jumped having heard his low voice so close to her but tried to cover it up smoothly, turning to face him. 

He had the collar of his cloak turned up against the wind and a Slytherin scarf wrapped snugly around his neck. His cheeks were slightly pink from the cold and all in all, he didn’t seem threatening. 

Ava knew better than to trust his appearance however. He could be callous, mean and cruel. 

“Of course” she answered politely, smiling dutifully up at him and allowing him to lead her to a quieter area, out of Erin and Lachlan’s line of vision. 

“I wanted to apologise for my behaviour yesterday evening” Tom began, standing unnecessarily close to her in order to gage her reaction as best he could. Her silvery hair blew around her face and neck wildly as the wind easily picked it up. 

She didn’t seem bothered by either her hair or his closeness to her. Her face remained relaxed and her blue eyes doe-like. 

“I know that what I said was unforgivable-” he dropped his gaze shamefully, peeking up through his lashes at the last second to see if her expression had changed. It hadn’t. But she had touched his arm to stop him speaking. 

“It’s forgotten” She said serenely, smiling at him as though he had paid her a wonderful compliment. 

“I-” he started again, ready to insist she listen to his full apology - he had it perfectly rehearsed after all. 

“Honestly” that breathtaking smile was still there. Not that he’d ever admit he found it breathtaking. 

“It’s fine. Thank you for apologising. I’ll see you in Potions” 

And without another word to him, she turned and walked back to her friends. Tom was incensed. Not only did she not react to his simpering apology in a way that may have been to his advantage, his tactics had left him with nothing but more questions. The ache to know what this girl was hiding burned brighter in him than anything he had felt. He had to know, he needed to know. 

 

Walking calmly back to Erin and Lachlan was one of the hardest things Ava had had to do in years of perfecting this act. She wanted Riddle to writhe on the ground in agony for what he had said to her, to throw him bodily across the courtyard without the use of her bloody wand to make him realise exactly what kind of witch he was dealing with. 

But she didn’t. She stayed calm. She did well. She was proud. 

“What did he want?” Lachlan asked, glancing back at Riddle over Ava’s shoulder when she returned safely. 

“Prefect stuff” she said nonchalantly, stealing Lachlan’s Ravenclaw scarf and wrapping it around her own neck. 

“Hey” he pretended whine, but all three of them knew he didn’t really mind. 

 

Divination and History of Magic dragged by after break, bringing down Ava’s optimism for the day. It wasn’t entirely extinguished however and she was still more upbeat than Erin, who had all but drooled on the desk during HofM. 

The pair of them located Alphard at the Slytherin table at lunch time and walked towards him. On the way Ava spotted Lestrange and smirked, pulling a tiny vial out of her pocket. Swiping the Amortentia has been a stroke of genius, finally she could extract her revenge.

As they passed him, Ava deliberately tripped spectacularly, grabbing Lestrange’s shoulder to catch herself and poured the contents of the vial into his drink as he looked at her in confusion. 

“So sorry Cepheus” she said with a blinding smile, patting his shoulder once she had righted herself. 

“That’s okay” Lestrange replied slowly, raking his eyes up and down her body. Ava barely suppressed an eye roll and herself and Erin continued down the table to where Alphard sat. 

“What was that about?” Erin asked, sitting opposite Alphard and helping herself to Shepherd’s pie. 

“Revenge” Ava replied with a grin but offered no more information.

“I’ve been waiting for you” Alphard said, pointing an accusatory fork at Ava, who looked at him with a bemused expression. 

“I’ve just had Care of Magical Creatures” 

“Congratulations?” Ava replied, Erin sniggered and the girls exchanged a glance that sent them both into hysterics. Alphard huffed as he waited for them to stop. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you’re a Veela?” 

Ava stopped laughing immediately, her face becoming sombre in a matter of seconds. 

Erin laughed even harder. 

“Really Alphard? That’s the best pick up line you’ve got? That’s pathetic!” She howled, gripping the edge of the table for support. 

“And usually you’re so smooth” she calmed down slowly, with deep breaths. Then she saw the look on Ava’s face. 

“You’re not serious” 

“Only part” Ava said hurriedly and Erin’s knife hit her plate with a clatter. Several of the surrounding people who had been eavesdropping on the conversation openly looked at them now. 

“I knew it!” Alphard said triumphantly, taking a swig of pumpkin juice. 

“B-but how?” Erin asked, her expression slack. 

“My great grandmother was a full Veela, I’m only a tiny bit” Ava said, red tinting her cheeks as everyone looked at her. 

“But I could still tell” Alphard said smugly, waggling his eyebrows at her. Ava rolled her eyes at him and looked at Erin, who was still looking at her like she’d never seen her before. 

“It’s really not a big deal” 

“Like heck!” Erin exclaimed and Ava rolled her eyes again, unable to stop herself. 

“I’m going to the library” she said, standing up and picking up her bag. 

“I’ll see you both later” 

Then she hightailed it out of the hall, leaving the open mouths and stares behind her. Not even waiting to see the effects of the potion on Lestrange. 

 

Ava couldn’t help but notice Abraxas Malfoy had left the hall only moments after herself and seemed to be following her all the way to the library. 

She dismissed this quickly though, lots of students used the library after dinner, especially the fifth and seventh years so it wasn’t shocking the Abraxas could be going there of his own volition. 

She sat down at an empty desk by one of the large library windows and pulled some work from her bag. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Malfoy sit at the table to her left and mimic her actions, pulling a quill and parchment from his bag, but he didn’t start writing. 

Hastily, she rifled through her potions book and found the chapter that she needed to reference in her essay. She was being paranoid, he was obviously thinking about what he needed to write, she needed to pay attention to her own work and stop worrying about things that didn’t concern her. 

With that last thought on the matter, she devoted her full attention to her textbook and began jotting down the properties of moonstone and how it was used in potion making. The essay took her the whole of the lunch hour to complete which was lucky because Potions was the last lesson of the day. 

Needless to say, writing the essay became a lot more enjoyable when Lestrange burst into the room, loudly declaring his love for the third year, Myrtle Warren, a bespectacled, acne ridden girl who wasn’t very popular. Ava had to bite down on her fist to stop herself laughing too loudly when he was dragged away to the hospital wing, crying over Myrtle’s rejection. Revenge completed.

Although the essay wasn’t due for another few days, Ava felt an immense satisfaction handing work in to Slughorn early, it was a sure fire way to remain in his good graces and Professor Slughorn was the kind of teacher to give his favourites special treatment. 

“Ava my dear girl, you are simply wonderful” Slughorn beamed at her as she gave him the essay before class started. 

“If you keep up this kind of attitude I think I can see a head girl badge in your future” he gave her a hearty wink and tucked her essay into a pile of parchment on his desk. 

Ava swelled with pride, giving Slughorn a blinding smile. 

“I hope so Professor” 

Without being asked, she skipped back to her seat in the third row and sat down beside Riddle with an easy going smile. 

“Hey” she said, pushing her hair back from her face. Her voice was very carefully controlled so as not to let her displeasure at being near him show. 

“Hello” he said back, his voice equally guarded. The pair stared at each other for a moment, their eyes locked as though they hardly realised they were doing it. Riddle leaned a little closer to her, his dark eyebrows furrowing when Slughorn cleared his throat to command the class’s attention and the spell between them broke. 

Ava felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment but stared resolutely at Slughorn. She couldn’t believe she had let herself stare at him. Lost in thought about her dislike, she hadn’t even thought to look away. It probably looked like she fancied him, she wanted to die at the thought. The day she fancied Tom Riddle was the day hell froze over. 

On the other side of the table, a plan was forming in Tom’s mind. It had occurred to him, not even a moment ago, that something he did extremely well was maintaining a calm front, even if his insides were ablaze with anger. If Rochford had also mastered this art, then it was quite possible what he had said was still weighing on her. Quite likely in fact. Drawing these parallels made him wonder, what would it take for him to crack? The most trouble he’d ever had reigning his anger in was always exam season, when stress about his grades and worry about returning to the orphanage in the summer wreaked havoc on his self control. 

So, if he took Rochford as a hypothetical parallel - even though she would never match him in ability or power - surely stress and annoyance were to play a key part in cracking her. How to bring about such stress? Lack of sleep, the pressure of deadlines, losing time perhaps. All easy enough to bring about. Then all it would take would be a tiny push. 

Tom grinned when Slughorn finished talking and Ava turned to face him, ready to discuss who would be doing what in their joint version of the draught of peace. 

“What are you smiling about?” She asked with an eyebrow raised as she flicked lazily through the textbook. 

“Nothing” Tom replied, leaning forwards on his elbows. 

“Just feeling confident”


	7. Of Forgiveness and Friendship

It was a week or so before Halloween and most of the fifth years could be found hunched over tables in the library or squashed into every available space in their common rooms in order to try and complete the mountain of homework that all of them had been set. 

Ava had been getting up at around six thirty every day in order to get her work done in the peace and quiet of the morning, without the hubbub of the Slytherins in the evening or the ever growing number of people in the library to bother her. 

Because of this, she found that she was idly trying to make up something to say for her dream diary for divination, not really paying much attention or giving much care to what she was writing down. Erin on the other hand was feverishly attempting to finish two essays, answer some charms questions and label a diagram for Herbology - all of which was due in the next day. 

The sun had long since sunk out of sight, not that it bothered any of the Slytherins, who wouldn’t have noticed in their windowless common room, but Ava estimated that it must have been about eight o’clock because Riddle came down from the boys dormitory, shot her a look and walked out of the room. Sighing irritatedly at this silent summons, Ava left Erin to her work and followed Tom out of the room. 

“Good evening” he said politely, to which Ava nodded and walked ahead of him, picking the skin around her fingernails hidden inside her pockets. 

As most of their patrols as of late, they walked in silence. Ava was in deep thought about the Ancient Runes quiz that was coming up and how she should go about preparing for it when she was so terrible at it. 

She nearly jumped a foot in the air when the Prewett twins sneaked from behind a tapestry just in front of them, as they had never had to reprimand anyone on their patrols before. In her shock, she had let her fake wand fly out of her pocket, bounce a couple of times on the stone floor and roll away down the corridor. 

“Michael, Polly what are you doing, you gave me such a fright!” Ava said, clutching a hand to her chest as the red-headed twins looked at her, smiling. 

“Sorry Ava” Michael grinned charmingly, running a hand through his rust coloured hair. 

Ava smiled back, a little colour rising in her cheeks. Michael Prewett - and his twin sister - were troublemakers in chief at Hogwarts. Ava had always thought Michael was extremely attractive, he had managed to strike a balance between arrogance and selflessness that was endearing, not to mention he was funny, tall, quick witted and handsome. 

Though they never crossed paths very often, the way he was looking at her right now, as though he knew she was going to let them off for being out of bed, out of hours led her to believe that maybe she had not been very subtle in her appreciation of him from afar. 

“10 points from Gryffindor” Riddle said firmly from Ava’s side and she looked up at him in surprise. He didn’t look back at her. 

“Next time it’ll be detention” he said lazily, his eyes looking past the twins to where Ava’s wand lay on the floor some ten feet away. 

Polly rolled her eyes. 

“Okay then, bye” she grabbed Michael’s arm and the pair of them walked down the corridor. As they went past Ava’s wand, Polly bent down to pick it up, then she stopped and gestured towards Ava who lifted her hands. 

“Just throw it” she insisted and Polly shrugged before tossing the wand towards her and Ava caught it deftly in one hand. With a final wave, the twins disappeared around the corner. 

Tom watched Ava twirl her wand around her fingers in disbelief. He could not understand the carelessness with which she treated it. He gripped his own tightly in his pocket. It was his most prized possession, one of the very few things that he would admit to caring about. She was disrespectful; he decided derisively. She cared little for the art of magic, she did not appreciate the skill that it took to wield a wand the way that he had mastered.

The rest of the patrol passed in silence, Ava not even sparing a glance for the tall, raven haired boy next to her. Once they had completed their loop of the school, Tom stood back to let her pass in front of him into the common room, watching her back as she walked straight to the girls dormitories. 

The next morning Ava found herself half-asleep at the Slytherin table, not paying any attention to what she was eating and wishing she was still in bed. Erin had asked her to stay up to help with all of her work and like the dutiful friend she prided herself on being, Ava obliged. 

“You’re looking positively ravishing this morning Rochford” Cepheus said grotesquely as he sat down opposite her and pulled some cereal towards himself. 

“Don’t take it personally Lestrange, but every time I see you I have to physically restrain myself from punching you in the face” Ava responded dully, resting her head on her hands. 

“Well that wasn’t nearly up to your usual calibre of insult” Abraxas Malfoy said bracingly as he sat down on her left side. 

Ava eyed the pair of them suspiciously, finding it extremely odd that they had decided to sit with her. 

“I’m afraid my heart just isn’t in it this morning” she replied eventually, stifling a yawn afterwards. Damn Erin and her last minute homework. 

Just then Ava noticed Lachlan hovering a little way behind Lestrange, looking awkward. She took this as a sign to leave. Without saying anything to either Cepheus or Abraxas, she rose from the table, caught Lachlan’s eye and gestured towards the doors. Lachlan nodded looking relieved. 

“Where’s Erin this morning?” Lachlan asked as the pair of them walked from the hall towards Defense against the dark arts.

“In bed” Ava answered with a touch of sourness. 

“She stayed up late finishing off her work then decided to take the day off” 

Lachlan didn’t comment, instead he chose to switch the topic of conversation to the upcoming Slytherin vs Ravenclaw quidditch match which would be taking place in a couple of weeks. 

Ava was only half listening to Lachlan’s detailed account of how practice had gone a couple of days ago and how Ravenclaw were shaping up to beat Slytherin’s arse. 

“So did you want to come?” he finished, looking at her hopefully as they took their seats in the DADA classroom, both of them ignoring Erin’s empty seat. 

“Sorry what?” Ava asked apologetically, her mind having been thinking wistfully of her bed. 

“Quidditch practice this afternoon, straight after classes. Do you want to come and watch?” 

His voice was full of too much hope for Ava to refuse. She smiled. 

“Of course I do” 

DADA passed slowly without Erin, so Ava wiled away the time doodling on a spare bit of parchment, ignoring Professor Merrythought and letting her mind wander. After the lesson was over, she said goodbye to Lachlan and made her way down to the dungeons for potions, praying that Erin had decided to get up since the lesson was only a few doors down from their common room. 

However, the bell signalling the start of class rang and the door shut, leaving Ava in an even lower mood. Unusually for her, she found it very easy to ignore Riddle, who was sat rigidly to her left, a good two feet of space between them. 

Professor Slughorn rambled and raved before setting them on task. Ava wasn’t even sure what potion they were making, she was just blearily following the instructions Slughorn had left on the board. The pair of them stood up and Riddle went to gather ingredients from the cupboard. 

As usual, herself and Riddle worked perfectly together, in absolute silence. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye while she chopped fig leaves and saw his jaw was clenched tight and his eyebrows were furrowed as he sliced a sheep heart to sever the heartstrings. 

Looking up at the board to check the next step, Ava grabbed the small jar of powdered dragon claw from Riddle’s side of the cauldron and leaned forwards, tapping the jar to let a tiny sprinkle fall into the potion. 

At that moment, there was a loud bang and a hiss from Muriel Weasley’s cauldron to Ava’s right and she glanced over, accidentally dropping the jar of powdered dragon claw into her own cauldron where she heard it smash on the bottom. Less than a second passed before Ava felt a sharp tug on the back of her robes, yanking her swiftly backwards just before a column of fire exploded from the cauldron - charring the stone ceiling above. Ava watched with her mouth agape as the bluish flames burned solidly for nearly thirty seconds, flooding the dungeon with eerie light. 

Then, the fire dissipated as quickly as it had lit. There was silence in the dungeon and even Professor Slughorn was sat stunned with his eyebrows raised. 

Becoming suddenly aware that her back was pressed against something and someone was holding her wrist tightly, she turned and took a step away to see who it was. 

Tom looked back at her, his hand dropping to his side from where he had been clutching her wrist. His eyes were calculating as he surveyed her appearance. 

“Are you hurt?” He asked quietly, just as Professor Slughorn finally seemed to come back to himself. 

“Alright, alright, excitement over, back to work everyone please - yes Prewett that means you” 

Ava stared at Tom in confusion, her mouth still open, but she couldn’t quite find any words.   
He had realised what would happen the moment she had dropped the dragon claw and had had time to pull her out of harms way. The fact that he had even decided to do that baffled her, it didn’t fit with any of her observations or assumptions of him. He was cruel and sly, not chivalrous and noble. It didn’t make any sense. 

“Miss Rochford are you quite alright?” huffed Slughorn, having hurried from the teacher’s desk. Ava broke the intense eye contact she had been making with Tom. 

“I-I’m fine Professor thank you” she said shakily, looking at his kindly face. 

“Just a bit shocked I think, I’m so sorry” 

“Of course dear girl of course, well you cannot be blamed for this, one of my top students after all. If I got in trouble for every time I made a mistake in potion making” he chortled to himself, “I probably never would have finished school.” 

Ava forced a smile at Slughorn’s attempt to make her feel more at ease. 

“If you get started again now, you may just have time to get a good start on a new one before the end of class” 

Ava nodded and Slughorn walked back to the front of the room, squeezing between cauldron’s and tables to get there. 

Hurriedly pulling out her wand, Ava cleared the blackened contents of their potion. Then she pulled out another set of fig leaves and began chopping them finely again - determined not to let this affect her grade, even though her heart was still beating abnormally fast. Mentally she ranted at herself for being so careless and stupid, blaming the lack of sleep she’d had.

Tom had moved back over to his side of the cauldron and was calmly weighing beetle eyes on a set of scales. 

After a few minutes Ava finally found her voice. 

“Thank you” she said softly. She didn’t look up from her fig leaves, even when Riddle looked over at her. He didn’t reply. 

When the bell finally rang, Ava hightailed it out of the room as though she actually had caught fire, practically running to the courtyard where Lachlan was waiting for her at break. 

Erin didn’t surface until lunch, slouching into the great hall and plopping down next to Ava, having the audacity to yawn and look tired when she’d had nearly five hours more sleep. 

A muscle in Ava’s jaw twitched in annoyance when Erin rested her head on the table and moaned about not sleeping enough. She forced a smile onto her face and patted Erin’s back. 

“Lachlan wants us to watch Ravenclaw’s quidditch practice later on, are you coming?” She asked politely when Erin finally looked up again, her perfectly coiffed hair a little mussed. 

“I suppose so” Erin said, patting her hair and pulling down her blouse. Ava nodded and took a bite from a sandwich, masking her annoyance at Erin completely.

The rest of the day dragged itself past, not helped by the fact Ava kept checking her watch, desperate for an early night. 

Finally, herself and Erin were trudging down to the quidditch pitch, hoods up against the wind, squinting in the distance at the blue blurs that were the Ravenclaw quidditch team. 

“I’m only staying for ten minutes” Ava insisted to Erin, who had perked up remarkably since lunchtime and led her friend up into the first line of seats in the stands. 

“I know, I know” she said in a bored voice before catching sight of Lachlan by the goalposts and screaming loudly to get his attention. Even from the middle of the pitch, it was impossible to miss the massive grin on his face. He flew over to greet them. 

“Glad you guys could make it” he tipped an invisible hat as he hovered in front of them. 

“Glad to be here” Erin replied cheekily, curtsying before she sat down. 

“Caldwell! Back to the goalposts!” The team captain yelled at him as he flew past. Lachlan pulled a face and waved before flying back to his post. 

“Woo! Go Lachlan!” Erin screamed unnecessarily, since he wasn’t even doing anything yet. Ava rolled her eyes and sunk low in her seat. She was so close to going to sleep, if only Erin would shut the bloody hell up. 

The sky was getting steadily more orange as the sun began to set and Ava decided enough was enough. Her head was pounding from the noise Erin was making, her body ached and she needed to lie down.

“I’m going, I’ll see you later” she said to Erin a little shortly, before walking down from the stands and starting to cross the pitch to the closest exit to walk back to the castle. 

Suddenly, there was lots of shouting behind her, Ava turned around having had just about enough of all the noise and ready to cut the vocal cords of the next person to shout at her, but she froze at what she saw. 

A bludger was hurtling through the air, heading straight for Ava’s head. She screamed, holding up her arms to protect her face and braced herself for impact. It never came. 

Peeking through her fingers, Ava saw the ball hovering mere inches in front of her, completely stationary in midair. For a split second, she thought that she was doing it unintentionally and felt as though she had been doused in icy water. However, as she looked around she realised that a group of people in silver and green robes had walked onto the pitch from the doors behind her. 

The Slytherin quidditch team had decided to interrupt the Ravenclaw practice. Tom stood at the forefront of the group, his wand raised and pointed at the bludger. As she watched him he flicked the wand and the bludger flew off in the opposite direction. Winky Crockett - the team captain - led the rest of the team to the centre of the pitch, clearly to speak to the Ravenclaw captain. But when Ava raised an eyebrow at Tom, he walked in her direction instead. 

“That’s the second time today I’m having to thank you” Ava said once he was within earshot. The shock of the bludger having cleared up her mood considerably. Not to mention she was acutely aware that this was the second time in one day that she’d had to rely on Riddle to save her.

Tom smirked and shrugged. Silently gleeful at this opportunity to talk to the girl.

“Right place, right time I suppose” he replied modestly, stopping about a metre away from her. 

“What are you doing here?” She asked, glancing over his shoulder momentarily to the arguing teams at the centre of the pitch. 

“Crockett booked the pitch” Tom said easily, glancing back at them also. 

“Well, thank you again” Ava grinned, finding it impossible to suspect him of anything at that moment with his hair messier than usual, in quidditch robes and having just saved her a second time. Surely she must have been wrong about him. 

“You’re welcome” he responded playfully, knowing he was charming his way into her good books; his dark eyes gleamed red for a second as the sun set overhead. 

“Oi, Riddle!” Both Tom and Ava looked around to see Crockett gesturing for Tom to join the team as the Ravenclaws left the pitch, clearly looking sulky. 

Tom lifted a hand to show he had heard and faced Ava again. 

“So I guess I’ll see you later?” She asked tentatively. Tom flashed a dazzling smile. 

“Later” he agreed and jogged off to join his teammates. 

Both of them smiled to themselves as they walked away, Ava’s light and pleasant as she thought how, perhaps, she had been wrong to hold a grudge against him and he had meant it when he had apologised before.

Tom’s smile was more sinister. It twisted his handsome face. He had gained her trust, maybe even her friendship. He could put the next stage of his plan into action.


	8. Not Broken, Just Bent

There were few things Ava hated more than being stuck in History of Magic when it was a glorious day outside. The grounds were flooded by bright sunlight; the sky was a beautiful, forget-me-not shade of blue; the leaves on the trees were turning gold and the air outside promised a sharp crispness - unlike the humid summer she’d had to endure. 

It had been a little under a fortnight since her run in with Riddle on the quidditch pitch and things between them had definitely improved - perhaps past the point they were before the incident on patrol. Occasionally the pair could be found silently working at the same desk in the library, or discussing a book assignment together for they were certainly matched in intelligence. They didn’t speak extremely often, but Ava found that his company was not nearly as bothersome as she had previously found it. 

If only all aspects of Ava’s life were going so well. 

She couldn’t explain why, but every morning for the past week and a half she had been waking up at around 1 am and failed to go back to sleep entirely - even when she was exhausted. She also found it impossible to nap during the day meaning she was losing hours and hours of sleep. Bags had appeared under her eyes and it was becoming more and more of a strain for her to cover them up each morning. 

Fortunately all of this extra time meant that she was well on top of her workload - unfortunately, due to her exhausted and sleep-deprived state, the work she was producing was hardly the calibre that her teachers had come to expect from her, so she was being set even more work on top the normal amount. 

Even worse than all of this, odd things had begun happening to her. Like her quills would mysteriously vanish from her schoolbag or her school books would start appearing in the most ridiculous places around the common room - like the very top of the largest bookcase where she couldn’t possibly reach, or under one of the clawed feet of the armchairs by the fire. 

She was also losing time. Sometimes she would be walking to the great hall for lunch, only for Lachlan or Erin to stop her and remind her that they’d had lunch already, but she had no recollection of having eaten at all. Another time, Erin had found Ava in the library at nine o’clock at night, when Ava had been under the impression it was only five. 

Erin insisted that all of these odd happenings could be attributed to Ava’s lack of sleep, but Ava wasn’t so sure. It felt like she was slowly losing her mind, her grip on everything. She was barely controlling her magic anymore, it was just too tiring to keep her emotions in perfect check. She constantly felt on the verge of tears. 

But - at this moment - she was half laying on her History of Magic desk, staring out of the window at the sun drenched grounds and wishing that she was outside, by the lake, where she could feel the warm sun on her face and the cold chill of the air. That she could maybe fall asleep under the thin Beech tree that sat near the waters edge. 

“Are you alright Ava?” Lachlan was tapping her shoulder, obviously under the impression she was half asleep. 

Ava lifted her head and smoothed her hair as she looked around, everyone was packing up and Professor Binns had already left the classroom. 

“What time is it? What lesson do we have now?” She asked, disorientated. 

“You have a free period before dinner, but that’s it” Lachlan replied, cocking his head as he examined her, his sandy hair falling across his forehead. 

“Are you seriously alright? You’re normally a lot more on top of things” 

Ava scowled, shoving everything into her bag and walking out of the room with Lachlan keeping up with her easily with his long strides. 

“I am on top of things” she said, letting him keep her company only grudgingly. 

“I’m fine Lachlan” 

“Why don’t you go and have a lay down” he suggested, eyeing her with obvious worry. 

“I think you’ll feel better after some sleep” 

“I have a charms essay to finish” she snapped, not appreciating his babying her. Then, without saying goodbye, she turned down the next corridor and walked to the library, leaving Lachlan to walk to his next lesson alone and confused. 

“Bad day?” Tom asked, barely glancing up as Ava threw her things down on the table with unnecessary force. 

Ava grumbled incoherently in response and Tom felt the corner of his mouth tug upwards into a smile, he kept his head down to conceal it.

He listened intently to Ava’s continuous stream of angry sighs and the sounds of her scratching out sentences over and over. Eventually, she fell silent and he lifted his head to look at her. 

She had folded her arms on the desk in front of her and rested her forehead on top of them, breathing slowly. 

Tom cocked his head a little as he observed her measured breathing, she couldn’t be sleeping, the potion he had Avery slipping her every mealtime made sure of it. He leaned forwards slightly, staring intently at the top of her head, at the silvery blonde tendrils that spilled across the table. He had read lots about legillimency, if he just concentrated a little more...

Ava was interrupted from staring at the desk by an acute stabbing pain slicing through the top of her head, a different type of pain from her pounding headache, which was throbbing somewhere around her temples. 

She looked up blindly, grasping her head and just as quickly as it had come, the pain subsided. 

“Are you alright?” Tom asked, hastily arranging his features into an expression of concern. 

“Yes, I- nevermind” Ava was extremely confused, but looked back down at her unfinished charms essay with resignation. 

“I just can’t do this now” she said, rolling up the parchment and tucking it back into her bag. She rested her cheek against the cool desk, wishing the throbbing pain in her head would go away. 

Tom watched her grimace in pain and almost felt guilty for what he was putting her through. Almost. 

He continued to work in silence while Ava stared at the books next to her, clearly a hundred miles away. Once he had completed the questions and the essay he had come to the library to do, he cleared his throat and Ava looked up at him. 

“I’m going to head down to the common room” he said, in the softest voice he could manage. He needed to keep up this strange trust she seemed to have given him. 

“Are you staying here?” 

“No, I’ll come” she said, with a smile, even though she sounded completely defeated. 

On their way out of the library a group of rowdy, third-year Gryffindor boys barged their way past, knocking Ava - small as she was - clean off her feet and into the wall without apologising. Tom reacted a second slower than he should have done, offering his hand to help her right herself and calling the boys to stop, but he saw a blazing look in her eyes that made him realise she didn’t need any help at all. 

Ava had had enough. She was tired, she was behind on work, she felt like she was losing her mind and that bloody hurt.

Her insides blazed and she felt power fizzing under her skin, desperate to explode, to direct itself at those Gryffindors. 

She turned to face them, rage spilling out of every pore. Then she saw their faces and calmed herself. They were nothing to her. They had no idea what they were dealing with. They were just kids.

“20 points from Gryffindor” she said silkily, fixing them with a simpering apologetic smile.

“For disorderly conduct in the library. Keep that sort of behaviour outside boys” 

The second years nodded mutely, staring at Ava with their mouths agape. She smirked at their mesmerised expressions and turned, tossing her long hair unnecessarily so that it very nearly whipped them across the face and strutted off down the corridor. Once again, in control.

She had forgotten about Tom, so wrapped up in her internal power struggle. He was still standing by the library doors, completely frozen. 

He had seen her break. Just for a second that never-faltering smile had flickered and an anger that he had never seen in her before had overtaken her. He knew for certain now that his suspicions had been correct, she was an actress. She was hiding something beneath that carefully controlled facade. Smirking to himself in triumph, Tom walked slowly down to the common room. 

He would break her again. And when he did, it would be beautiful.


	9. Fluctuat Nec Mergitur

When Ava woke up on Friday morning, she was astonished to find that it was 8:30 - a reasonable time. Just as surprisingly, she felt well rested and the headache that had been plaguing her for days had vanished. She lifted her head off of her pillow tentatively, scared that something was going to happen, another of Lestrange’s pranks perhaps, but nothing came. 

Slowly, a smile spread across her face. She leapt out of bed and walked to the bathroom to have a shower, not caring about how loud she was being or that all of the other girls were in bed. When she emerged twenty minutes later, fully dressed and beaming, it was to see Druella and Cecilia poking their heads out of their bed hangings to look at her. 

“Good morning” Ava chirped before skipping out of the room, through the common room and into the dungeon corridor. 

She missed Cecilia and Druella exchanging bemused expressions as she left the room. Not that she would have much cared if she had noticed. 

Ava entered the great hall and saw a bright day reflected in the ceiling, she smiled to herself as she walked to the far side of the hall where the Slytherin table was located, surprised to see that of the sparse numbers of students in the great hall this early, a lot of them were fifth year Slytherin boys. Riddle, Avery, Lestrange and Malfoy were all grouped together in the middle of the table, Alphard sitting a couple of seats away. 

Amongst the others in the hall, Ava looked for a sign of Lachlan’s sandy hair but could not see it. While she was looking in the direction of the Ravenclaw table, she caught Michael Prewett’s eye on the table behind. He grinned at her and she grinned back, hoping the heat she could feel around her collar wasn’t showing on her face. 

Michael was sitting next to Rubeus Hagrid and was positively dwarfed by the size of the young boy. Ava suspected that Rubeus might have been on the wrong end of an experimental spell at home when he was little because he was gargantuan. Over 7 feet at just twelve years old. 

She supposed it would always be one of those mysteries, she did not know Rubeus well enough to blatantly ask him about his size, nor would her manners allow her to do so. 

“Morning Alphie” She grinned as she took the empty seat opposite Alphard, who had been leaning on one arm, reading the Daily Prophet. 

“How many times must I ask you not to call me that?” He asked, sounding a little exasperated. 

Ava shrugged. “At least once more” 

Alphard couldn’t fight his smile. 

“You seem to be in a good mood” He commented, stretching his arms above his head and cracking out his neck with a sigh. 

“I am” Ava agreed with a broad grin, “I-” 

She was cut off by her least favourite person. 

“Fancy spending lunch break in my dorm today Rochford?” Lestrange leered at her from a little way down the table, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. 

Ava turned to him and put on a smile, grabbing the nearest coffee pot.

“Tell me Lestrange, were your parents siblings?” She asked, pouring some coffee. 

Cepheus’ leer dropped into a scowl. Beside him Malfoy and Avery sniggered behind their toast. Riddle ignored the exchange, seemingly deep in contemplation. 

“No” he spat, fury lacing his tone. 

“My mistake” she grinned sarcastically before facing Alphard again. 

“You’re wicked” he teased and she laughed. Noticing Alphard’s eyes go slightly out of focus as he watched her she cleared her throat and took a sip from her coffee. 

Just then Erin, Druella, Cecilia and Felicia came into the hall in a big group. They joined Alphard and Ava, filling the spaces around them. 

“Morning all” Erin said, dragging an omlette off of a tall pile and onto her plate. 

There was a chorus of greeting from Ava and Alphard. 

“Did you see the noticeboard this morning?” Felicia asked them both, directing her question at more at Alphard which Ava picked up on immediately. She shook her head in answer to the question while Alphard nodded. She watched his response to Felicia closely, hiding a smirk behind her coffee mug. 

“About the duelling club on Tuesday? Do you think you’ll go to it?” He asked her, leaning forwards and resting his chin on his hand as he waited for her answer. His dark eyes gleamed as she played with her honey blonde hair. 

“I don’t know, it seems quite- quite dangerous, don’t you think?” 

Her face became slowly redder at the attention Alphard was paying her and Ava decided to save her. 

“I think that sounds like a fantastic idea, what with Grindelwald’s forces growing in Europe” 

“Darling you don’t always need to look at things from such a macabre perspective” Alphard chided her, clearly enjoying the furtive looks Felicia was giving the pair of them. 

“I think it’ll just be a bit of fun” He stretched his arms again, deliberately tensing them over his head. 

Ava rolled her eyes at him and he shot her a subtle wink while the others continued discussing the club. 

‘You’re awful’ she mouthed, unable to keep her face straight. 

He shrugged before swinging his leg over the bench and getting to his feet. 

“I have to get going, see you later ladies” He gave Felicia one last look before walking off and she abruptly burst into giggles. 

“Do you think he likes me?” She asked the group giddily, to which everyone quickly assured her, he’d be mad not to like her, as good friends would. 

“What’s brought on the sudden interest?” Ava asked with an eyebrow raised and Felicia furrowed her eyebrows in thought. 

“I’m not too sure, it’s like I suddenly realised that he’s incredibly attractive. Do you guys ever get that?” 

Ava’s mind flitted to a red-headed Gryffindor and nodded, as did the other girls. 

Slowly but surely, people came and went, until only Ava and Erin remained of the five girls. 

Erin checked her dark bun in the back of a spoon and Ava was staring blankly out of the window. 

“You know the more I think about it, the better looking he gets” Erin mused quietly over her morning tea, looking towards the group of boys that were still sat a few seats away. 

“Who, Riddle?” Ava asked immediately, looking over at the group to see Tom and Cael Avery standing up and leaving the table. 

“No not Riddle” Erin said slowly and Ava turned back to her in order to follow her line of vision. 

“Lestrange?” Ava asked incredulously, sweeping her hair over her shoulder to provide a long blonde curtain between herself and that half of the table. 

Erin shrugged. Ava couldn’t believe her ears, her best friend was seriously considering her sworn enemy. 

“Please, for the love of all that is good in the world, tell me you’re joking” 

But Erin refused to comment any further on the subject and Ava was left to look between her and Lestrange in completely silent disgust. She would never support such a relationship, even for Erin. Lestrange was the devil reincarnate. 

“I suppose we’d better get going if we’re going to make it to divination on time” Erin said, checking her watch and standing up. Ava followed her example, her mind still producing disgusting images of Erin and Cepheus....involved.

The climb up to North Tower was a pain but eventually the two girls made it, clutching their sides. 

“You’re late girls” Madame Cutteridge, the old divination teacher scolded them as they climbed through the trap door, wheezing. 

Ava gasped an apology and the pair of them sat down on the last pair of seats at the last available table. 

“Today we shall be reading tea leaves” Madame Cutteridge informed them. 

“You shall each collect a teacup and saucer, bring it to me to fill and then drink it until only the dregs are left. Then turn the cup upside down on the saucer and allow any liquid to drain. Then switch cups with your partners - or in your threes - and use ‘Miranda Wishart’s Ten Thousand Ways to Read Tea-Leaves’ to interpret the symbols. The teacups are on that shelf over there” 

She gestured to a large, overflowing cabinet by the window and went to sit at her desk, clutching an enormous teapot. 

Ava and Erin joined the rush of students clamouring to collect teacups and then went to get them filled. Ava’s teacup had a small chip in it which she cut her lip on when she first tried to drink the scalding tea. 

“Ouch” she complained, rubbing away the speck of blood she had left on the cup and holding the cuff of her robes to her lip. 

“Is it bad?” She asked Erin, who was gulping down tea while holding her nose. Erin hated tea without sugar. 

Erin just about managed to shake her head and finish her tea at the same time, putting her teacup upside down on it’s saucer and gagged. 

“That was revolting” she spat, wiping her mouth furiously. 

Ava drank her tea - from the other side of the cup - trying to be quick about it. She didn’t dislike it as much as Erin, but it tasted like leafy water which wasn’t very pleasant. 

Once the cups were drained and they had swapped, they looked in each other’s cups. Ava had never liked divination very much and all she saw were soggy lumps at the bottom of a cup. 

“I don’t know, a great tragedy is upon us” She said vaguely. 

“No, come on at least try” Erin quite liked divination, she was obsessed with the idea of fate. 

Ava sighed and consulted ‘Ten Thousand Ways to Read Tea-Leaves’ 

“Well you have a strange sort of spiral and that means, er, fortune in the immediate future so lucky you - you have a crooked arrow shape, which apparently means an unexpected romance and some some specks that probably mean you’ll get loads of spots soon” 

“Hey” Erin scowled and Ava snorted. 

“Only joking. The first two were serious though, look at you Miss fortune and romance” 

“Okay well yours has a cloud sort of shape which means peace but also this axe looking thing which could mean chaos? So you’ll experience chaos peacefully?”

Ava scoffed at her best friend’s interpretation of the soggy mess in the cup. 

“I reckon this veiny heart looking thing is the dangerous love symbol... and this” Erin turned the cup in her hands in order to study it better. 

“Is the horn that means you should be wary of goats” 

“I think you’re inner eye needs corrective lenses” Ava said skeptically, throwing Erin’s cup back at her, which she caught with a frown. 

“I don’t know why you took Divination when you don’t take it seriously”

Ava rolled her eyes and rested her elbows on the table. 

“You know why. Plus I’ve never been any good at it. I don’t think Madame Cutteridge is any good either” 

“Don’t take out your lack of skill on her” Erin smirked, dutifully picking up Ava’s cup again and pretending to examine it further as Madame Cutteridge herself walked past their desk.

After divination Erin left for Arithmancy while Ava walked downstairs to Ancient Runes. She was stopped on the second floor by a small first year girl who seemed to be absolutely terrified of her. 

“Excuse me, are you Ava Rochford?” She asked in a tiny voice, shifting her weight from left to right. 

Ava nodded and looked at the girl kindly. 

“I’m supposed to give this to you” she said, handing out a folded letter sealed with purple wax and an extravagant ribbon. 

“Thank you sweetheart” Ava said warmly and the girl hurried off with her friends. She leaned against the wall to avoid the people running backwards and forwards to various lessons and opened the letter, looking out of the window next to her as she did so.   
She was right over the greenhouses, classes were filing out from each one as she watched.

She saw Tom coming out of one of them, a smudge of earth on the pale skin of his cheek. She fought to suppress a smile at this. The rest of his demeanour was as intimidating as ever, his face marked with stress. But that smudge humanised his ethereal appearance, it amused her.

With a shake she realised she was supposed to be reading a letter and looked down at it. 

It was an invitation from Slughorn to attend a Christmas Eve party in his office, with a plus one. Ava smirked, pleased to have finally been invited to join the 'Slug Club’. She stuffed the invitation into her pocket and walked to Ancient Runes with a new spring in her step. 

Charles and Alphard were already sat down when Ava arrived so she took her place at Alphard’s side, smiling at him as she took out her parchment, quill and ink. 

Tom made it in just before the bell, his cheek still smudged with dirt. Ava stifled a snort as he sat down, looking incredibly flustered. 

“You’ve got a little something” she said tapping her own cheek to show him where it was. 

He rubbed away the dirt with his fingertips and she nodded to show it was gone. Tom noticed that after just one day of calling off his assault on her psychological wellbeing, Rochford seemed completely back to her usual disgustingly happy self. He couldn’t keep up the attack though, not when his mind was swimming with the possibility of immortality. 

No, Rochford was on the back burner at that moment, not that he was any less infuriated by her secrets, but he had more important things to concern himself with. 

Just then Professor Sillious burst into the room, looking quite bedraggled

“Right then, what are you waiting for, dictionaries open, yesterday’s homework on the desk please” 

Tom’s thoughts were then directed - for the most part - towards ancient runes. 

The rest of Ava’s day passed fairly uneventfully, Charms and Transfiguration were simple enough and she had a free period to end the day. She spent it working alone in the library - for once not accompanied by Riddle. She took this opportunity to return ‘Born Wandless’ to it’s shelf. Although an interesting read, it had not really taught her much that she wasn’t already aware of. 

Most of her evening consisted of holing up in the library after dinner to finish a couple of essays and check through some answers she had written for practice O.W.L. papers. Once she had finished this and checked her watch, she was taken aback to find that it was nearly time for her prefect patrol with Riddle. So she packed up her things and made her way down to the common room. 

She spotted him alone in a large, old armchair by the fire, a massive tome open in his arms. After dropping off her bag silently by Erin, where she was studying with Druella, Cecilia and Felicia, she approached the armchair.

“Why are you reading Latin?” She asked, peering over Tom’s shoulder at the book on his lap. 

“A little extra reading” he said, not seeming surprised to see her when he glanced over the back of the armchair. 

“Seems like pretty dark stuff” Ava said, leaning against the side of the chair, half sitting on the arm as she tried to read the faded yellow pages. 

“You can read this?” He asked, his eyebrows shooting up. It was one of the first times she had seen him shocked. 

She laughed, “Can’t you? Why are you staring at it if you can’t read it?” 

“I’m translating as I go” Tom said, tapping his wand on the page. Each time he let his wand hover over a word for a few seconds it would flash to English. 

“How laborious” she commented. 

“And translating it like that probably isn’t giving you an accurate idea of what it says, language requires interpretation” 

“I am aware of the limitations” Tom seethed, looking up at her for the first time since she sat down, a little startled by her proximity - though he didn’t show it. He caught the scent of something distinctly sweet and airy but he banished it from his mind before the thought had even fully formed.

“Where did you learn Latin?” 

“My Aunt forced me” Ava grumbled, running a finger along a line of text in the book.

“The act of killing tears apart the soul effectively. The problem arises when one wishes to contain a soul fragment in an object or organism which is extremely difficult and cannot be undone - Merlin Tom what kind of extra reading are you doing?” 

“Research, I would be lying if I said the dark arts don’t fascinate me” he said nonchalantly.   
“How could I be expected to battle something that I don’t fully comprehend?” 

“For defense against the dark arts” Ava nodded her understanding. 

“And none of this tempts you to the dark side?” She waved a hand over the book, her tone light and teasing. 

“Certainly not” Tom smiled easily. 

He closed the book and held it out for her to take. She did, shuddering as she did so. It emanated dark power like nothing she’d ever felt. 

“Do you think you could translate chapter twelve for me?” He said, fixing her with a sultry look. 

Ava rolled her eyes and stood up. “Of course, Casanova” she laughed to herself and he frowned, a little confused by the reference and annoyed that she didn’t respond the way he had expected. He pulled a smile back onto his face when she looked back around though. 

“I’ll be back down in a second for patrol” 

Then she disappeared into the girls dormitories. 

She had just finished tucking the book into her trunk, for she didn’t want anyone in her dorm to see her with it when the rest of her dorm mates hurried into the room, all squealing madly. 

“Oh my goodness Ava you didn’t tell us you were interested in Tom!” Druella cried dramatically, seizing Ava by the shoulders and shaking her excitedly. Ava looked around at their eager faces in confusion. 

“What?” She asked, utterly perplexed. 

“Honestly I’m offended” Erin scowled, sitting on her bed with her arms folded. 

“You could’ve at least told me Ave. You know I wouldn’t have said anything” 

“Girls honestly, I’m not interested in Tom” Ava said, straightening her robes in the mirror and fixing her hair. 

“You liar!” Cried Cecilia happily from her own bed. 

“It makes so much sense, you’re going to be the best looking couple in the whole school! You’ll have the most gorgeous babies!” 

Ava choked on her own spit, whirling around to face the girls. 

“You guys are getting way too ahead of yourselves!” She insisted, walking over to the door. 

“Please, we all saw you two cuddling up together on that armchair Ava, we weren’t born yesterday” Druella trilled in a very overdone mother-like voice. 

“I can’t even be bothered to explain, I have to go, I have prefect duties” with that, she flung the door open and marched outside. Not swiftly enough to miss Cecilia’s cry of “With Tom!” and the chants of ‘ooooh’s that followed. 

Ava had cleared her expression by the time she entered the common room, she betrayed nothing of her irritation nor her confusion. To her surprise, she couldn’t spot Tom anywhere and resolved that he must be waiting in the corridor. 

She found him in deep discussion with Avery just outside the door, the pair of them talking in low voices. She cleared her throat awkwardly and they turned around. 

Tom nodded to Cael and he left abruptly, as though he had been dismissed. 

“What was that about?” Ava asked curiously as they began their walk. 

“Nothing in particular” Tom lied flawlessly, fixing his shirt cuff. 

Ava highly doubted that but she remained silent. Everyone was entitled to their own secrets. 

“You’re invited to Slughorn’s gathering then?” He asked, having glanced down and caught sight of the purple ribbon sticking out of the pocket of her robes. 

“Oh” Ava looked down at the ribbon too, having completely forgotten about it. 

“Yes I have, have you?” 

“Yes” Tom smiled a little smugly, knowing it was her first invitation and his fourth. 

“Could you clue me in on what to expect?” Ava asked politely enough, but her eyes were full of amusement. Her question made it clear that she had picked up on his smug tone and he was once again impressed by her perceptiveness. 

“There’ll be maybe twelve students and their plus one’s of course, a few notable alumni that Slughorn knows. He invites them to impress us mostly, but also to establish connections. It tends to be quite a lavish affair, Professor Slughorn does nothing...” he searched for the right word, “half-heartedly” 

“It’s a dress up occasion then?” Ava confirmed, wracking her brain for something she owned that would be suitable. 

“Of course” Tom answered, wondering what Ava Rochford would class as dressy. There was no denying that she even made the school uniform glamorous, his curiosity was piqued at how she would look dressed in something else. He shook his head quickly to dismiss the thought. 

“Are you thinking of asking anyone?” She asked, wondering who she should ask as she did so. The thought of Michael Prewett drifted through her mind and she bit her lip. Was she brave enough to ask him? 

“No, I have nobody to ask” he said matter-of-factly and Ava didn’t press the subject. Even though she was certain he could have his pick of the entire student body if he wished - probably even a few of the staff. 

At the end of their long walk, they found the common room deserted except for Abraxas, Cael, Cepheus and Cygnus Black, who were all apparently waiting silently by the fire. Before Ava could ask what they were still doing up, Tom held up a hand and stood in front of her to block her view of them. She looked up at him, unnerved by how close he was standing to her willingly. He didn’t usually like coming closer than two feet in any direction if he could help it. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow” he said with an air of finality that plainly said Ava was supposed to go to bed. With a confused look, she heeded the silent command and left. Thankfully, the other girls were already asleep. Since everyone was in bed, Ava let her hairbrush brush her hair magically and closed the dorm room curtains with a flick of her wrist. She lay awake for a long time, wondering why those boys had been waiting for Riddle. 

 

Saturday dawned bright and blustery. The air was charged with the kind of excitement that only a quidditch match could bring. 

The Slytherin girls dutifully dressed up fully in Slytherin garb, hats, scarves, gloves and banners ready for the match against Ravenclaw which would be taking place after breakfast. 

Ava was still preoccupied by Riddle and his gang, but Erin and the other girls didn’t notice as they all traipsed down to the great hall together. 

Lachlan was waiting to greet them in the entrance hall, all dressed up in navy blue robes and his keeper gear, the helmet tucked under one arm. He looked giddy with excitement and Ava and Erin fell behind from the group to talk to him.

“Are you excited for the match?” Lachlan asked animatedly as they walked into the great hall for breakfast. 

“Of course” Erin beamed, just as excited as he was. 

“Slytherin are going to kick your feathered behind Ravenclaw” 

Lachlan held a hand to his heart. 

“You wound me Erin. You’re coming too right Ava?” 

“What? Um yeah okay” Ava said, running a hand through her hair distractedly. 

“You alright?” Erin asked, surveying her friend quickly. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine” Ava grinned at the pair of them. 

“Okay, well meet me back here in ten, I want to walk down to the pitch with you guys” 

Lachlan said before rushing off to the Ravenclaw table to cheers and wishes of good luck. 

Ava and Erin walked together to the far side of the hall, where the Slytherin’s were being equally loud and boisterous in the excitement of the upcoming match. 

“You’re sure you’re alright?” Erin asked, a little perturbed by Ava’s silence. 

“I’m fine, just worried about our Charms test on Monday” Ava invented, not wanting to admit that she had been preoccupied with a certain dark haired Slytherin prefect. 

“Shit, I forgot about that” Erin cursed as she poured herself some orange juice. 

“How are my two favourite girls doing this morning?” Alphard asked as he sat down on Ava’s right. Ava half smiled at him while Erin rolled her eyes. 

“I’m okay, how are you Alphard? Nervous?” 

Alphard snorted, taking a bite from a slice of toast. 

“Nervous? Darling what do you take me for?”

Ava giggled, pushing bacon around her plate. 

“I’m sure you’ll do great” 

“So am I” Alphard said confidently with a wolfish grin. 

“Arrogant arse” Erin commented under her breath and Ava and Alphard exchanged glances before laughing. 

“I know you’ll succumb to my charms eventually Erin, just wait” Alphard winked at her before getting up with the rest of the team to walk down to the pitch. Felicia sighed and watched him go. 

“Pull yourself together” Druella said, hitting Felicia on the arm. 

“C’mon, we said we’d walk with Lachlan” Ava tugged Erin away from her half finished kipper. 

The three of them walked down to the pitch in high spirits. Although Ava tired very quickly of quidditch, it was difficult not to share her friends’ enthusiasm. 

Erin and Ava got settled in the stands with the rest of the school and eagerly awaited the teams to walk out onto the pitch. They did so to a huge roar of sound. Winky Crockett stepped forwards to shake the hand of the Ravenclaw captain before they kicked off. 

Ava’s eyes followed the dark haired figure that was Tom, flying high above the game, searching for the snitch. A huge wave of noise came from Ravenclaw’s side - they had just scored. 

She could barely hear the commentary from where she was sat and the game slowly started to drag. Ten minutes, twenty minutes and it was getting dirtier and dirtier, she was not proud to say that most of the fouls were from the Slytherin side. 

It was when one of the Slytherin beaters, Castor Selwyn, attempted to beat Lachlan over the head with his bat, and only missed because Ava had hastily adjusted the angle of his arm mid swing with magic, she’d decided she’d seen enough. 

“Come find me later” She shouted to Erin, who could only just hear her over the noise. Erin gave her the thumbs up and Ava pushed past the row of people and left the stadium, figuring she might as well translate Riddle’s chapter while she had the time. 

When she reached the common room, she summoned the book from her trunk straight into her hands since everyone was still at the game and grabbed her schoolbag from the table she had left it on overnight. 

Then she went up to the library, loving that she had the castle almost entirely to herself. Just as she reached the top of the stairs however, she caught a glimpse of Lestrange coming through the doors and looking around as though he had lost something. Ava raised an eyebrow at this, Lestrange was a big quidditch fan, but she didn’t draw attention to herself. Instead she carried on her way. 

She was nearly at the library when she heard footsteps and heavy breathing a little way behind her. Her suspicions confirmed, she rounded the corner that lead to the library and waited around it instead of continuing, waiting for him to catch up. 

Lestrange hurried around the corner to find Ava waiting for him, her wand drawn. 

“Fancy meeting you here.” He said, smirking despite being out of breath. 

“Oh, please. Don’t act like you didn’t follow me.” Ava said disdainfully while raising her wand a little higher to point at his heart. He eyed it nervously. 

“I’m just trying to get some work done” he said, lifting his hands in surrender. 

“Trying to keep on top of everything” 

Ava didn’t believe him but knew she would get into trouble for jinxing him without proper evidence. 

“Just don’t bother me” she said, turning on her heel and stowing her wand back in her pocket. He followed a few paces behind her and they sat at separate tables once they entered the library - whose only other occupant was the librarian herself. 

Ava noticed that he was in fact working, but this did not put her mind at rest. It was weird that he had left just after she had, to be going to the exact same destination. She put it to one side of her mind however and situated herself with parchment and quill, chapter twelve open in front of her and she began translating.


	10. The Taste of Defeat

Over the next few days snow started to settle over the castle, making it almost as cold within the stone walls as outside them. Torches were lit along the corridors to help remedy this, but students still hurried to their lessons nonetheless. 

The fifth years were buzzing with excitement about the duelling club, the first meeting of which was to take place on the last day of November. Almost the entire year group had signed up for the club, run by Professor Merrythought, the ancient Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. 

At eight o’clock, the doors to the great hall opened and the fifth years pushed and shoved each other to get through, eager to see how the room had been changed for the club. Dinner had been held earlier than usual to accommodate the group. 

Ava and Erin were among the crowd of students, just as excited as everyone else. 

“Can you see anything yet?” 

“Erin you’re taller than me, I can see even less than you can” 

“Alright, I was only asking” 

Alphard, who was taller than both of them just snorted and looked over everyone’s heads. 

“There’s a big platform where the teacher’s table usually is” he said helpfully, just before the crowd broke through the doors and spread out so that they could all see for themselves. 

It was true, a large platform with stairs at both ends took up one whole end of the hall, where the teachers normally ate. The rest of the hall was completely empty, a huge space that the fifth years slowly started to fill as they all filed in. 

Professor Merrythought climbed the stairs to the platform and smiled at them all with his arms open. 

“Welcome. I’m so glad so many of you decided to come and give duelling a try.” He said in a quavering voice, looking around at the eager faces in front of him. 

“First and foremost, I must tell you that there are several rules to this club. First, absolutely no spells that are intended to cause harm, we are learning to disarm our opponents only. Second, once you have divided into pairs, you must only aim at your partner, I don’t want to see any spellwork while someone’s back is turned. Finally, try your best” he smiled again and turned to his left. 

“Professor Dumbledore has agreed to help me run this club and you must follow any instructions he or I give you” 

Professor Dumbledore stepped onto the platform and tipped his hat jovially to several laughs. 

“Alright then, divide into pairs” Professor Merrythought waved his hand at them and Erin immediately clutched Ava’s wrist. Ava grinned at her. The rest of the group babbled for a minute while everyone tried to find a partner then went quiet again. 

“Next, find a space in the hall to work in, facing each other” 

Everyone spread out obediently and Ava and Erin found themselves close to the wall, grinning at each other. 

“Now, watch Professor Dumbledore and I, then imitate our stance and spells” Professor Merrythought and Dumbledore faced each other and bowed before raising their wands. After a silent count of three, they swung their arms round and shouted, 

“Expelliarmus!”

Professor Merrythought’s wand went spinning out of his hand and landed with a clatter on the floor. There was a round of applause for Dumbledore while Merrythought went to collect it. 

“Go on then” Merrythought encouraged once he had his wand safely back in his hands. 

“You all know how to produce a shield charm as it was in last week’s lesson. Use it to try and block attacks”

With this final piece of advice, the hall broke into noise. Hardly anyone had bothered bowing or taking up proper stance, instead they were just yelling madly and brandishing their wands at one another. 

Ava knocked Erin’s wand out of her hand three times and blocked all of Erin’s attempts to get her back without any difficulty. Secretly she was pleased, she seemed to be doing okay even with her wand. 

“Come on, give me a chance” Erin said, exasperated as yet another try was blocked. 

Ava sighed and let her arms rest at her sides. 

“Go on then” 

Erin aimed and cried, “Expelliarmus!” 

Ava’s wand flew out of her hand and went grudgingly to retrieve it. 

There was a loud bang from the platform and everyone stopped shouting to look round. 

“Alright then. Does anyone want to come and have a try up here?” Professor Merrythought gestured to where he was standing. 

Many hands went up, including Ava’s. She was desperate to show that she was good enough, that she was the best. 

Professor Dumbledore pointed at her and she grinned, skipping up to the platform and climbing up onto it gleefully. She felt everyone’s eyes on her but stood still, waiting for the other person to be picked. 

Professor Merrythought pointed into the crowd and to Ava’s horror, Cepheus Lestrange climbed the other set of stairs onto the platform, smiling broadly. 

Ava’s elation at being picked was quickly snuffed out. She didn’t trust Lestrange in the slightest to play fairly and she would be damned if she took anything laying down. 

The two teachers climbed off the stage and stood by the stairs while the crowd of fifth years pushed in closer to watch. Most of them knew of Ava and Cepheus’ dislike of one another and were eager to see which one of them would win this showdown. 

“Bow” 

The pair of them jerked their heads at one another. 

“Wands at the ready” 

They both lifted their wands. Ava could see a mad glint in Lestrange’s eye that she didn’t like the look of at all. 

“1, 2, 3” 

Ava barely had time to block Lestrange’s jinx as he fired on two. She shot back a disarming charm which he jumped sideways to avoid. 

His next spell was non-verbal but produced a jet of purple light that meant it definitely wasn’t intended to disarm only. The jinx rebounded off of Ava’s shield charm and he had to duck to avoid it, swearing as he did so. Ava’s expression remained stoic as she twirled her wand needlessly, sending a leg-locker curse straight at Lestrange’s chest; he threw up a shield just in time. 

The pace increased until the pair appeared to be throwing hexes madly, their mutual dislike fuelling the ferocity with which they fought. 

“Alright” Professor Merrythought’s quavering voice sounded over the cheering students watching the duel. 

“I think that’s enou- Merlin’s beard!” 

He cut off half way through his sentence by a loud scream as one of Lestrange’s curses caught Ava’s shoulder and she was thrown bodily across the hall, slamming her against the opposite stone wall with such force that all of the watching students fell silent as the sound of her impact reverberated around the room. 

Ava was pinned to the wall ten feet in the air, unconscious, for a full five seconds of silence before the curse lifted and she fell. She landed on the cold floor of the platform on her side with a loud crunch and remained entirely motionless. 

Professor Dumbledore rushed to her side and conjured a stretcher to take her to the hospital wing while Professor Merrythought rounded on Cepheus Lestrange. 

“Despicable behaviour! You were supposed to disarm only! Detention Lestrange, for the rest of term and I don’t want to hear a word against it!” 

Half of the fifth years were fixated on Lestrange being scolded, the other half watched the stretcher, floating at Professor Dumbledore’s side as he levitated Ava out of the room, her long silvery-blonde hair hanging over the stretcher’s edge and rippling as Professor Dumbledore walked her out. 

 

Tom Riddle, who had decided that he had no need to partake in the silly little duelling club for it was only for fool-hardy Gryffindors who wished to show off - was on his way to the Slytherin Common room from the library when he saw Professor Dumbledore levitating someone along a corridor, a look of deep concern etched onto his lined face. Tom couldn’t explain why, but he felt a jolt in his stomach when he glimpsed the familiar silver hair of the girl Dumbledore was levitating. 

Rather than drawing attention to himself in front of Dumbledore - who always seemed to suspect him of some wrongdoing, he clenched his jaw, turned around and continued to the Slytherin common room. Rochford’s personal matters were none of his business anyway. 

 

Ava was awoken to Madame Turnley, the kindly old matron, leaning over her with her wand outstretched. 

“Calm down there sweetheart, you’ve had a bit of a nasty fall” she said when Ava tried to sit up on the uncomfortable hospital bed. 

“I’m fine” Ava said automatically, even though she was aching all over, particularly on her left side. That must have been the side she landed on. 

“Well you had a broken rib and a fractured wrist but I’ve mended both of those already, if you just tell me where you’re still hurting, I can fix you up in no time my love” 

Ava smiled and winced as her left cheek burned in pain. Madame Turnley was lovely, she was a little old woman with soft grey hair that was tucked into a white cap and had the warmest smile. Ava knew she meant well, but she couldn’t stand being looked after. It probably had something to do with how little attention she got from her aunt growing up, but she always preferred to sort out her own problems. She wanted to be a healer after all, not the one being healed.

“Honestly Madame Turnley, thank you but I’m okay” she insisted, swinging her legs over the bed and standing up tentatively. 

“Dear you mustn’t over exert yourself! I nearly had a heart attack when Professor Dumbledore brought you in, you should probably stay the night” 

“No, no, I promise I’m fine” Ava backed towards the door, wanting nothing but to go to sleep in her own bed and to murder Lestrange as soon as she was fit. 

“At least let me heal some of your bruises-” 

Ava didn’t want to spend one more minute in the hospital wing and ran from the room without waiting for the matron to finish. 

The sky was dark outside the windows that she passed on her way down to the dungeons and she didn’t see or hear anyone. She must have been out for hours. 

She crept along the corridor, wary of being caught by whoever was on patrol tonight, she couldn’t afford to have any blemishes on her record, being a prefect. Thankfully, she got to the common room without being seen and was surprised to find it empty. She had secretly hoped that the girls may have stayed up to see if she was alright but then, she supposed, they probably assumed she would have to be kept in overnight. 

She stared into the fire for a long minute, watching the flames crackle and dance before deciding that she needed her bed. She would deal with Lestrange in the morning. 

“What happened to you?” A voice issued from a darkened corner of the room. Ava whirled around, convinced she had been alone. She saw the sharp features of Tom Riddle thrown into relief as he leaned forwards in the armchair he had been sitting in and closer to the fire. 

“Bit late for you to be up Riddle” she commented, noticing the alertness in his gaze. 

“I was reading” He glanced down at the ancient book that was open on his lap. Even from a distance Ava could see it was written in runes. 

“Ah” 

“What happened to your face?”

“What?” 

Tom gestured to the ornate silver mirror that hung above the fireplace in the common room. Ava approached it warily and immediately saw what he was referring to. Her left cheekbone was purple from where she had fallen. 

She raised a hand and ran her fingers along the bruise gently. It was sore beneath her fingers and she winced. The mark was painfully obvious on her face, the dark purple contrasted to her light skin tone and hair. 

“Why didn’t the matron heal you?” 

Riddle’s voice was much closer to her now. Ava tensed and turned around, a little uncomfortable at how close he had gotten without her realising. He had risen from the chair and was standing next to her - barely a foot between them. The firelight danced across his handsome features, as though deliberately showing them off each in turn. His straight nose, dark eyes, strong jaw. Ava looked back at her bruise in the mirror. 

“I’m afraid to say I was rather hasty in leaving the infirmary” she decided to be truthful, wracking her brain for a healing spell while she spoke. 

“I’m not really a fan of... Appearing vulnerable” 

Tom did not question her further, but watched her in the mirror. A pucker had formed between her eyebrows. She was unhappy. 

“Who did this to you?” His tone was not sympathetic. 

“I’m sure you’ve heard” Ava’s eyes slid to his face in the mirror and saw her assumption proved right in his expression. 

“I wanted to hear it from you” He said after a moment, meeting her gaze in the reflection. 

“Lestrange” she sighed, looking away from him and pulled her hair back into a bun at the back of her head, securing it with a tie from her wrist. 

“Whoever let us duel was idiotic. Everyone knows we aren’t fond of one another.”

She sighed again, touched her bruise once and then turned away from the mirror to face him properly. 

“It’s late, I’m going to head up to bed. Goodnight Riddle” 

“Goodnight” he murmured, deep in thought as he watched her start to walk towards the girl’s dormitories. 

“Wait” he said suddenly, catching her wrist in his hand. He had startled even himself, his body acting without his mind giving permission first. She was so short close to him, he always forgot until they stood close to each other. 

Ava looked at him with her eyebrows raised. Cursing herself for being so aware of how close he was to her, that she could feel the warmth of his hand on her arm. 

“Yes?” 

Tom drew his wand from his pocket and pressed it delicately against her bruised cheek. With a quick, non-verbal spell it shrunk and then vanished, leaving her porcelain skin clear.   
Ava lifted her hand, her eyes surprised as she felt the newly healed skin. Tom’s eyes burned into hers, his look was searing. She could not decipher it’s meaning though, and her mind raced through possibilities. Eventually she found her voice. 

“Thank you” 

Tom didn’t say anything. After a few seconds of silence apart from the crackling from the fire, Ava pulled her wrist from his hand and hurried up to the girl’s dormitories.


	11. Wherefore Art Thou Lestrange

Tom and Ava barely spoke over the next few days, partially due to the gargantuan amount of work they were being set and partially because they always seemed to find excuses to duck out of the room if the other entered. 

Ava found it impossible to ignore that she seemed to have a permanent tail. Wherever she went, at whatever time, she would find another member of Slytherin not far behind. Most often it was Malfoy or Avery but occasionally it was Cygnus Black or Kale Nott from other year groups. She was never bothered by any of them but she had a nagging sensation at the back of her mind that these incidents were not coincidental. 

Lestrange had been mysteriously absent from both the common room and classes since their duel and Ava was glad to not have to see the smug look on his slimy face at having beaten her. She didn’t know how she would stop herself from hurting him in imaginative, cruel ways if she saw him. 

Neither Tom nor Ava were willing to shirk their prefect duties however, so at eight o’clock on Friday they met outside the common room and started their walk. Ava wracked her brain for something to say, anything, but nothing seemed appropriate. 

She worried that she was reading into things, that she had imagined the searing look in his eyes the other night by the fire and her growing attraction to him was completely unfounded. Inconspicuously, she looked him up and down out of the corner of her eye. So maybe her attraction to him wasn’t new, but her internal admittance of it certainly was. 

Finally, after several awkward, quiet minutes - or at least in Ava’s opinion - she remembered the chapter of ‘Secrets of the Darkest Art’ that Tom had asked her to translate, which she had almost finished doing. 

“That book you gave me is horrific” she said casually as they passed the girls’ bathroom on the first floor. 

Riddle looked startled at the sound of her voice, having apparently been deep in contemplation. 

“Is it?” He asked lightly, knowing full well of the horrors the book described. 

“I’m nearly done transcribing the chapter, it seems to be leading up to a set of instructions on how to make one of these, these horcruxes. Everything I’ve translated so far is background information” Ava explained, anxiety colouring her tone. She was deeply unsettled by the book and wanted to get rid of it as soon as she could. To be honest, she wasn’t even sure that the book should be allowed in the library. 

“Oh you don’t have to translate any instructions” Tom assured her after a brief jolt of panic that she may suspect something.

“I only want the background information” 

Ava breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at him. 

“Thank goodness, it is truly awful stuff, I’d hate to read them” 

Tom nodded and returned her smile, even though his was forced. He’d have to translate the instructions himself. 

From then on however, the tension between them seemed broken and they were able to talk quite amicably about the Ancient Runes test that was coming up just before Christmas. 

 

The mystery of what had happened to Lestrange was soon solved when Alphard spotted him lying in the hospital wing. Ava decided to skip lunch as soon as she had heard to pay him a visit - one that with any luck would end with Lestrange covered in an unpleasant smelling green goo that she had concocted in potions. 

The doors to the infirmary were closed when she arrived, she edged them open as quietly as she could and froze at what she saw. Lestrange was the only one in the hospital wing and he was sat on a bed with his back to her, the matron was slowly peeling bloody dressings from his back. Five long, deep gashes marred the skin of his back, almost no area of skin was left undamaged. Some of them were still bleeding profusely, others just looked raw. Madame Turnley was murmuring words of comfort to him while she changed the dressings, but he didn't respond, nor did he seem to show any signs of pain. 

Ava covered her mouth and ran from the doors, away from the horrific scene. She hated Lestrange but she wouldn't wish that kind of torture on anyone. She wondered desperately why Madame Turnley hadn't been able to heal the gruesome cuts, why they were having to be dressed. She knew the answer and it disgusted her. Dark magic would be able to inflict those kinds of wounds and prevent healing. 

But who, aside from herself, had any kind of vendetta against Cepheus? Maybe Lachlan, Erin or Alphard had taken it upon themselves to seek revenge on her behalf already. Ava hoped that wasn't the case, she couldn't imagine any of her friends being capable of something so evil. 

She didn't return to her friends in the great hall, instead she chose to bury herself in work at the library for the rest of lunch, trying in vain to rid her mind of the grisly image of Lestrange's back. 

"Anything wrong sweetheart?" Alphard asked her when he sat down next to her at the start of Ancient Runes. 

"When you saw Cepheus in the hospital wing, did you see what was wrong with him?" Ava asked carefully, watching Alphard closely for any signs of guilt.

"No, I just saw him staring at a wall, he looked pretty out of it to be honest" Alphard replied with a shrug. 

"Not that I'd be concerned if it were something serious" he grinned wickedly at her and Ava blanched, her stomach turning. 

On her other side, Tom was writing the date on the top of his parchment and seemed completely oblivious to their conversation. 

"Do you have any idea what happened to Lestrange?" She asked him suddenly, remembering that Lestrange was part of the ever growing group that surrounded Riddle. He looked at her with an eyebrow raised. 

"None what so ever" he replied softly, his dark eyes boring into her light ones. Ava caught her breath a little, captivated. The moment broke when Professor Sillious entered the room, late as she always was. 

Ava spent the rest of the day subtly testing each of her friends, to see if any of them could have had anything to do with Lestrange's condition, but none of them seemed to have any idea what she was talking about. Eventually, Ava had to write off the whole thing, concluding that she was being paranoid and it was probably some kind of accident. However, a nagging sensation at the back of her mind told her she was wrong.

 

"How are my two favourite girls?" Lachlan asked, coming up behind them and wrapping an arm around each of Ava and Erin’s shoulders. The sight of him stirred something in Ava's memory and she suddenly realised, she hadn't asked him to Slughorn's Christmas party yet. In the end, it had come to a toss up between Lachlan and Alphard - since she was far too much of a coward to even approach Michael Prewett, let alone ask him to a party - but seeing as Alphard was going home to the Black's for Christmas, Ava's decision was made for her. 

"What are you doing Christmas Eve Lach-y?” She asked, cutting into his conversation with Erin as the three of them sat down in Charms together. 

"Nothing in particular" he answered, looking puzzled. 

"Do you want to come to Slughorn's Christmas party with me?" She asked, rummaging in her bag for her quill. Erin's mouth fell open. 

"You were invited to the Slug Club Christmas party?! But you never told me!" She exclaimed, leaning forwards across the table. 

"I forgot" Ava answered honestly, looking at Lachlan probingly. 

"Yeah sounds good" he nodded, a light firing up in his eyes. 

Ava breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. 

"Good, alright then" 

The three of them fell silent when class began, but there was a distinctive spring in Lachlan's step when they left for lunch. 

 

Unfortunately for the fifth years, the small event of Christmas did nothing to stem the tidal wave of homework they were swamped with in the last week of term. As always, Ava had signed up to stay at school for the holidays and wasn't too panicked with the library at her constant disposal, Erin and the other girls meanwhile, were dashing around like crazy people on the last day trying to work out which books they'd need to take home with them. Lestrange had remained absent all the way until the end of term and when Ava finally asked Professor Slughorn whether he would be coming back Slughorn told he had been given special permission to go home early for Christmas but should be back for the new year. 

Ava walked straight to her favourite spot in the library after her last lesson before the break, resolving to get as much work out of the way as possible at the start of the holidays. That meant tackling a particularly nasty essay on giant wars that Professor Binns had set them. 

Tom pored over yet another book of great wizards of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, searching for his surname anywhere - even just in passing. But as in every book before - he was having no luck. 

Angrily, he closed the book aside and moved on to the next one in the pile. He was determined, Riddle had to be somewhere. 

“Do you apparate from your lessons or something?” Came Ava Rochford’s voice from across the table as she sat down. 

“I don’t understand how you always make it here before I do.” 

“I had a study period” Tom replied without looking up from the contents of the next book.   
Ava raised an eyebrow at him, examining his figure which was hunched over the desk so engrossed in his book. She wasn’t used to him not being perfectly polite and cordial, it was oddly nice, more human. Then again she supposed, he probably wasn’t used to anything else from her either. 

“I have your book chapter” she said, pulling it from her bag and sliding it across the table to him, along with ‘Secrets of the Darkest Art’ which she was glad to be rid of. Tom picked it up without looking at it and put it straight into his school bag, murmuring his thanks without looking at her. Again Ava was surprised at his lack of controlled politeness but chose not to comment.

They studied in silence for a while, each concentrated on their own work. Ava found it increasingly difficult to write an essay on giant wars when a group of girls an aisle over were giggling and whispering particularly loudly. After glaring pointedly in their direction for a while with no results, Ava sighed angrily and shifted in her seat, hoping that they’d get the hint. 

Tom looked up at the noise and the girls went into a new frenzy of giggles. Ava finally cottoned on to what they were doing here. 

“For someone so observant, you can be incredibly blind Riddle” 

“Do elaborate” Tom replied, half sarcastically as he closed yet another book and moved on to the next one in the pile, his mood souring with every passing minute. Ava ignored his tone. 

“You say you have no one to ask to Slughorn’s party, yet you are ignoring your fan club” 

Ava tilted her head to the right without moving her eyes. To where the group of fourth years were still gathered.

Tom looked to them and back at Ava lazily. 

“They seem very keen on medieval literature” he commented with a smirk - referring to the shelf the girls were hiding behind. 

“You and I both know it’s not the literature they’re keen on” Ava replied in a cool tone, checking a reference in her Charms essay in the large textbook in front of her. 

Tom sat up straighter in his chair and twirled his quill around his fingers. 

“If I didn’t know better Rochford, I’d think you were hinting that I ask you” 

Ava snorted and raised an eyebrow at the wicked grin he was giving her over the mountain of books on the desk. 

“If I wanted to go with you, I’d have no qualms with asking you myself” 

When his grin didn’t fade she added,“Besides I’m already going with someone” 

Tom’s gaze hardened almost imperceptibly, but Ava didn’t notice. 

“And who was deemed worthy?” He asked curiously, no hint of malice in his voice. 

“You know Lachlan Caldwell?” Ava asked, returning her attention to her essay and dipping her quill into her ink pot. 

The mudblood. Tom thought as he nodded once. 

The conversation died again after that, Ava returned her attention to her essay, leaning her cheek on her hand and furrowing her pale eyebrows in concentration. 

Tom glanced down at the last book in front of him in disgust. That was it, after five years he was forced to conclude that no Riddle had ever appeared in magical history, he was named after a filthy muggle. 

His last resort was to try and look into his mother's lineage. He didn't have her name, but he had his middle name to go on and there couldn't be too many Marvolo's in the wizarding world.


	12. Tis the Season

The castle emptied extremely quickly the next morning for the train was to leave at about midday. Rather than saying goodbye and ‘merry Christmas’ a thousand times over, Ava stayed in her room, editing her History of Magic essay. Erin had made a big fuss over saying goodbye and Ava felt a pang of sadness when she walked out of the dormitory. Only Cecilia was staying at the castle from the group of Slytherin girls. Luckily Lachlan was still around to keep her company. 

“It’s the third day of the holidays Ave, let’s go have a snowball fight or something” Lachlan whined as Ava dragged him to the library for the second day running. 

“Not a chance, the sooner we get our work done, the less we have to worry about after Christmas” Ava chided him, as she had done many times since everyone had gone home for Christmas. 

Lachlan sighed dramatically, looking longingly out of one of the castle windows at the thick covering of snow on the ground, many of the students that had remained already outside in it. 

The pair spent all morning in the library, Lachlan only working half heartedly so that Ava wouldn’t nag him and Ava was completing a Transfiguration assignment. She had planned her work very carefully so that she would not have to do anything else until school started again once she had finished that day. 

By two o’clock, Lachlan’s stomach was growling and he was staring aimlessly out of the window, tapping the desk with his quill. 

“Go and have lunch” Ava said at last, not looking up from the textbook in front of her. 

“I know you want to” 

“Thanks” Lachlan grinned at her before hastily shoving his belongings into his bag and pelting out of the library as though he were on fire. 

Ava worked through lunch and through dinner. She wasn’t particularly hungry and decided that finishing off everything that day would be worth sacrificing a couple of meals. Finally, she was finished. She packed all of her homework away very carefully as some of the ink was still wet and checked out a charms book for a little extra reading. 

Darkness had long since settled outside the windows and the corridors were eerily quiet and cold. Torches were lit every few metres but shivers still wracked Ava’s body the longer she walked, her teeth chattering. 

The portraits on all of the walls that she passed were sleeping and the silence was starting to worry her. The castle was usually bursting full of life, even a few minutes before curfew. 

A door opened to her left and Ava jumped, freezing in her tracks. Tom Riddle stepped out of it, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully, his dark hazel eyes seeming distant. Until they narrowed in on her. 

“Oh, hi” Ava said, surprised to see him prowling the school after dark. Tom inclined his head, examining the book in her arms. 

“You’re studying late” he said quietly, so as not to wake the sleeping portraits on the walls.

“I had work to finish” she whispered back, following his example. 

“What are you doing up?” 

Tom shrugged, his eyes distant. 

“I’ll accompany you back to the common room” he said courteously. It didn’t escape Ava’s notice that he hadn’t answered her question but she didn’t ask him again. 

They walked in silence, Tom appearing to be lost in thought once more. His eyes roamed over the stone walls, lingering on every door that they passed. 

“Are you alright Tom?” Ava asked uncertainly, a little unnerved by his intense preoccupation. 

“Yes, I’m fine” he answered automatically. His eyebrows furrowed after a minute and he looked down at her. 

She looked back, confusion written all over her face. He looked like he was about to ask her something. However, less than a second later the look on his face vanished and he stared straight ahead again, his expression masked. Soon they were back at the common room and he let her pass him to enter first. 

It was a full ten seconds before he followed her and she decided that pestering him about what was bothering him was clearly no use. Instead, she shook her head, tossed her long silvery hair over one shoulder and marched away from him. Although she wouldn’t admit it to anyone, Tom not paying her any attention bothered her a great deal. She wasn’t used to being ignored by anybody.

Tom and Ava barely spoke over the next week. Every time she saw him he was either in the company of Avery or scribbling in some sort of journal. Since Ava had finished all of her work, she had no reason to keep visiting the library - their usual rendezvous point. It was the day before Christmas Eve and Ava was playing with her food, staring down the table in Tom’s general direction. Her gaze wasn’t focussed on him, but her thoughts certainly were. Was he ignoring her deliberately? What had she done wrong? Her ego was more than a little wounded, no one had ever lost interest in her before. Then, she thought, why did she even care so much?

Looking at him properly, she sighed. He was a little way down the table, completely engrossed in an ancient looking book. His dark eyes were darting across the page fervently, like he was searching for something specific. Ava wondered what he was looking for and whether whatever it was was the cause of his constant lack of interest. 

“You’re not listening to a word I’m saying are you?” An annoyed voice came from her left side. 

“What?” She said, breaking out of her reverie and looking around. Cecilia looked exasperated. 

“Just go and talk to him for goodness sake, all of this pining is driving me insane” 

“I am not pining” Ava spluttered, completely taken aback by the accusation. 

“Yes and I’m Minister for Magic” Cecilia replied with a deadpan expression. 

“Sorry Ce, what were you talking about?” Ava asked sweetly, it was easier for her to divert the attention than to continue arguing. 

“I was asking whether you think Alphard will ask Felicia to go steady when they both get back from Christmas” she repeated herself, albeit rather sniffily. 

“As much as I love Felicia, I find it hard to picture Alphard settling down” Ava replied honestly. Cecilia grimaced. 

“I was worried you’d say that” 

Ava shrugged and glanced back down the table at Tom. Cael had joined him but neither of them were speaking. 

Cecilia rolled her eyes, clearly having reached the end of her tether. 

“You have patrol tonight don’t you? You can talk to him then” she snapped before putting down her knife and fork and flouncing out of the hall, clearly irritated by Ava’s fixation on the boy. 

Ava felt slightly guilty abut annoying Cecilia but she couldn’t help it. Riddle was acting suspiciously and she wanted to know what he was up to. And why it was so important that he didn’t even have the time to talk to her any more. 

 

By the time patrol rolled around, Ava was fidgeting in her seat in the common room. Her mind would not settle to anything except watching the minute hand of the clock tick closer to nine o’clock. Finally, after an eternity, the clock chimed and Tom walked out of the common room without sparing her a glance. Grinding her teeth in frustration, she abandoned her things on the table and walked as normally as she could out of the common room without breaking into a run.

He didn’t acknowledge her joining him in the corridor except to start walking once she was by his side. Ava fought to keep her face stoic and not to let him know how much he was getting to her. 

But, after at least ten minutes of unbearable silence, she broke. 

“What is the matter with you?” She demanded, stopping in the middle of the deserted hallway and crossing her arms. Tom met her gaze for the first time that evening with a surprised look. 

“What do you mean?” He asked smoothly, his brow furrowing. 

“I mean you’ve clearly been preoccupied all week, so what is it?” Ava unfolded her arms and shifted her weight onto one leg while she waited for his response. He surveyed her shrewdly, as though deciding how much he wanted to tell her. 

Tom was intrigued by her expression as she stood there waiting for him to respond. Her large blue eyes were fierce and he realised that she genuinely wanted him to tell her. As if she expected his honesty. 

“I have- I’ve made some discoveries about my ancestry” he said at last. 

Ava’s gaze didn’t waver, wordlessly probing him to continue. 

“I’m still looking for answers” he continued gently, meeting her eyes as sincerely as he could. He didn’t want to tell her about Slytherin, about his search for the chamber. The look in her eyes made his chest feel tight. He could not explain it to himself but lying to her felt wrong. Maybe it was the soul searching look in her eyes or that it was one of the few times he had seen her without a forced smile on her face.

Ava nodded and looked away slowly and they both continued making their way down the corridor. 

“Sorry for forcing you to tell me” she said quietly after a minute and Tom looked at her in surprise once again. She seemed to feel guilty about asking him something personal, like she had somehow made him speak against his will. He half smiled. 

“You didn’t force me to say anything” he replied nonchalantly and they fell back into silence, a much more comfortable one than before. 

 

Before Ava was really prepared for it, Christmas Eve arrived which only meant one thing - Slughorn’s Christmas party. 

Ava went down to breakfast only to be greeted by a large barn owl bearing a neatly wrapped package. She plucked the note from the string tying the package to the owl and it flew off to the owlery. 

‘Ava, knowing you, you haven’t even thought of what you’re going to wear tonight. Luckily you have the best friend in the world who has your back, Happy Christmas and all my love, Erin’ 

She couldn’t suppress a smile at Erin’s note and opened the package eagerly. The Shafiq’s were extremely well off and Erin had a whole host of cocktail dresses that she had to wear to fancy dinners. With any luck, this was one of them. 

Originally, Ava had planned to wear a simple lace dress that she’d had forever tucked away in her wardrobe - it was her favourite item of muggle clothing. But she was definitely not complaining about Erin’s generosity, especially when the wrappings fell away to reveal a gorgeous black dress and a small box that contained a pair of long sparkly earrings. 

Ava felt her dread about the evening slowly slip away and excitement begin to take its place. 

 

“Wow Ava, you look wonderful” Cecilia said, looking enviously at Ava’s reflection in the floor length mirror in their dorm. 

“Thanks Ce” she replied, unable to contain her smile as she slipped on a few silver bangles to complete her outfit. 

She had spent the last two hours getting ready, doing and redoing her hair and make up, trying to find the perfect way to compliment the dress that Erin had lent her. 

The dress was tea length, the waist was cinched and fit Ava’s small frame perfectly before flaring out to just above her knees. She had a pair of heels that raised her height by a couple of inches and lot of her time had gone into her hair, which she had styled magically - four different ways before deciding - so the top half was held back from her face and the rest was left loose, curling at the ends. All together with Erin’s drop earrings, she was good to go. 

“Don’t have too much fun tonight” Cecilia winked at her before climbing into her bed with a book. 

“I’ll try” Ava smiled and left to meet Lachlan outside the common room. No one else was in sight so she assumed that everyone had either already gone to bed or left for the party. 

Lachlan was no where in sight when she got outside. She leaned against the cold stone wall, looking up and down the corridor for five minutes before he finally came into view.

“You’re late.” She called to him as he approached. He grinned, straightening his robes.   
“I rushed half way across the world, broke my nose, almost lost a limb and came an inch away from death on more than one occasion just to get here and that’s how you choose to greet me?”  
“You are the biggest liar I know Lachlan Caldwell” Ava laughed as he reached her and offered her an arm. She took it and the pair of them started to walk up to Slughorn’s office.  
The party was already in full swing when they stepped through the door. Slughorn had enlarged his office so that it was big enough for at least a hundred people with lavish decorations, a wide dance floor, tables and chairs to one side and a large table laden with food. Silver trays were floating around by themselves, carrying wine and champagne around to the guests who were all dancing, laughing and talking while music played through the room from some unknown source.   
Ava and Lachlan stood motionless for a second before looking at each other and breaking into smiles. At least they felt awkward together.   
“I’m heading for that food table” Lachlan said loudly so that Ava could hear above the music. Ava nodded and gestured for him to go. She had just caught sight of Tom standing alone by one of the tables with a glass in his hand, surveying the room intently. She made her way over to him, fighting her way past the many witches and wizards crowding the dance floor.  
“You clean up well” she teased when she reached him, because he did look stunning in black dress robes and a matching tie. 

“Thank you” he said, looking at her briefly before returning his gaze to the room at large, analysing each of the guests. 

“You look exquisite, if it wasn’t already obvious” 

Ava’s breath caught in her chest and she felt like some sort of explosion had occurred in her stomach. He had never paid her a compliment before. 

She choked on air for a second, her face turning steadily more red while Tom continued his analysis of the guests without noticing. 

“Thank you” she said, only the tiniest second too late. Completely overwhelmed, she could think of nothing else to say and she walked away from him, over to the drinks table where Lachlan was pouring out butterbeer. 

“Hey” he smiled, handing her a glass and taking a swig from his own. 

“Have you heard there’s a vampire here?” He continued excitedly and Ava smiled at his enthusiasm, her heartbeat slowly returning to a normal pattern.

“I hadn’t heard that” she replied, catching sight of Minerva McGonagall, who had graduated the year before, conversing with a man with bright orange hair. 

“Slughorn invited a lot more people than I expected” she commented, surveying the large crowd, many of whom were singing along to the music and dancing exuberantly. 

If it wasn’t already obvious. She replayed the words in her mind, unable to suppress a smile. 

“Ava my dear girl!” Slughorn’s loud voice boomed from behind her. She turned around to see him accompanied by a very tall and severe looking woman. Slughorn himself looked as though he had been enjoying the festivities a little too much, his cheeks were ruddy and he was hiccoughing after every few words. 

“Hello Professor” Ava smiled politely, toying with her bracelets. 

“And you’ve brought Caldin with you, how lovely” 

Lachlan - who had been filling his arms with mince pies - scowled at Slughorn. 

“Caldwell Professor” Ava corrected gently, nudging Lachlan to remind him to be nice. 

“Yes, yes” Slughorn dismissed the statement and gestured to the woman. 

“This here is Augusta Tillandus, Witch Weekly’s editor” he gave Ava a hearty wink and she shifted uncomfortably. 

“This, Augusta, is Avaline Rochford, future head girl in the making” Slughorn beamed at her and she chuckled weakly, not wanting to dampen his mood. 

“She’s a little short to model” Augusta said matter-of-factly to Slughorn, looking at Ava down a sharp, pointed nose. 

“But I can see what you were talking about Horace” 

“If you’ll excuse me” Ava cut in, wishing the ground would open and swallow her whole,  
“I have to go find my date” for Lachlan had lost interest in the conversation and wandered off. 

She was halfway across the room when she was intercepted by a tall man in pinstriped robes and an extremely pale face. 

“Drink?” He offered her a glass of champagne. She took it out of politeness and held out a hand. 

“Ava Rochford” 

“Sebalim” he replied, shaking her outstretched hand and holding onto it a little longer than she was comfortable with. 

“No surname?” She asked curiously, taking her hand back. 

“No” his lip curled into something like a smile. She stared at him for a moment. It was absolutely impossible to guess his age, he didn’t look young or old. He wasn’t attractive but had interesting, defined features.

“Evening Sebalim” Riddle had appeared at Ava’s right and greeted the man with a nod. 

“Tom” Sebalim nodded back. 

“You two know each other?” Ava asked, looking between them. Tom was stood unusually close to her, she had to look up to see his face properly. 

“Horace and I are old friends, I usually get an invite” Sebalim smirked at her, fingering the stem of his own champagne flute but not drinking a drop. 

“Yes, Slughorn likes to impress everyone with his vampire” Tom said, his eyes were hard and he was watching Sebalim with mistrust. 

“You’re the vampire?” Ava asked, her eyes widening as she took in his appearance again. There probably wasn’t going to be many opportunities in her life for her to say she had met a vampire. 

Sebalim raised his glass sarcastically, clearly with the meaning, obviously and Ava was suddenly reminded of the champagne in her own hand. She looked down at it and was about to lift it to her lips when Tom gently took her wrist in his hand and removed the glass.

“Wh-“ 

“Never drink anything given to you by a vampire” he said coldly, putting the drink on the first floating tray that passed them. 

“Let’s go and find your friend” he gave her a look that warned her not to argue. 

“Ah Tom, you won’t be able to keep her to yourself” Sebalim chuckled, apparently amused by the whole situation, even if the laugh made him sound manic. 

“I wonder what dear Horace would say if he heard you were trying to snack on the company” Tom mused sarcastically, the threat clear in his words. 

Sebalim’s amused expression dropped into a glare. 

Tom grabbed Ava’s wrist again and started to lead her away when Sebalim’s own cold hand snatched at her elbow, yanking her back momentarily. His extremely sharp fingernails punctured the vein in the crook of her arm and he caught a droplet of blood on his finger before she jerked away. 

Tom narrowed his eyes at Sebalim as he raised the bloody finger to his mouth and licked it clean. 

“I can taste the power in your blood little girl” he said in a sing-song voice, waggling the now clean finger in Ava’s face. 

That time, Tom’s grip on her wrist was vice like when he dragged her away to one of the more secluded areas of the party. 

“What was he talking about?” He demanded, swiftly releasing her wrist and whirling around to face her. 

“I have no idea” Ava lied, adding a note of exasperation into her voice as she looked down at the tiny puncture wound on her arm. Luckily it wasn’t deep and there was only a small trickle of blood down her arm. 

Tom stared at her with such intensity that she had to look away from him, feeling a blush rise in her cheeks. 

After a second his expression returned to its normal impassive state. He had evidently believed her. 

“I’d avoid Sebalim if I were you” he said finally. “He can be rather unpleasant.”

“I think I worked that out already” Ava said with a smile and a quirk of an eyebrow. He pursed his lips in response and she knew it was to keep from smiling back. Without another word he walked away and Lachlan appeared less than a three seconds later. Undoubtedly Riddle had seen him coming. 

“Where’ve you been?” Ava asked irritatedly, knowing that the whole vampire incident could have been avoided if she hadn’t gone looking for him in the first place. 

"Working the room" Lachlan joked, offering her one of the mince pies in his arms. She wrinkled her nose, pushing it back towards him.   
"I've actually been looking for that vampire" he said, taking a bite from the mince pie he had offered her.   
"I met him, he's not all he's cracked up to be"   
“What? You’ve got all the luck I swear” Lachlan sighed dramatically.   
“Can you at least point him out to me?”   
Ava squinted around the room and spotted Sebalim lurking by the drinks table. She pointed him out to Lachlan who stood on tip toe to get a good look.   
The rest of the party passed slowly. Ava tried to persuade Lachlan to dance with her but he kept wandering off every five minutes in search of more food. Ava noticed Alya Farley discreetly following him at a distance every time he did this and left her stranded on the dance floor.   
Eventually she found herself ensnared in a conversation with Talon Jones, who was apparently an international quidditch player, Josephine Matthews who was the editor of the Daily Prophet and much to her displeasure the Head Girl - Giselle Nott whose manner had not improved any since their first meeting on the train.   
Josephine was quite keen on grilling Talon about his life while Giselle listened raptly to his long winded answers. He seemed more than comfortable talking about himself, so Ava found her mind wandering again, wondering why Slughorn’s parties were so hyped up. She wasn’t enjoying herself at all.   
Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around, quite ignoring Josephine, Giselle and Talon, who didn’t look like they had even noticed her leave anyway.   
"Hey Ave, I think I'm going to leave in a bit, is that alright?" Lachlan asked her as Alya Farley tugged on his hand to try and pull him away. Clearly she had caught up to him at last. Ava was slightly taken aback. 

"Oh- yes, of course" she smiled and Lachlan grinned before allowing Alya to drag him out of the room. 

Not really wanting to return to the polite chit chat, Ava sat down at one of the many empty tables and pulled off her high heels. She definitely hadn't expected her date to ditch her for someone else. 

Someone sat down hastily opposite her, slouching low in their seat. 

Looking over at them, Ava was surprised to see Tom looking incredibly ruffled. His dress robes were haphazard and his hair was a mess. He ran his hand through it while looking around the room suspiciously, making it even messier. 

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, slouching in her own seat to mimic his position. 

"Olive Hornby has been trying to slip me a love potion" he replied exasperatedly, abandoning his search of the room to look at her. 

"What's wrong with you?" He parroted her own question back at her. 

"I'm just bored" she said, resting her head on her hands. 

"And my feet hurt" 

"Where's Caldwell?" 

"He left a few minutes ago with Alya Farley" 

Tom resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Mudbloods with mudbloods. 

"Well if you want to leave I'd be glad to escort you back, it would give me a reason to leave also"

Ava glanced around the room one last time and couldn’t think of a reason to stay. 

“Okay then” she agreed, rising to her feet and scooping up her high heels in one hand. Tom led her through the room and out into the corridor where it was virtually silent. A nice change to the raucous music and noise inside Slughorn’s office. Ava breathed a sigh of relief. 

“So, a love potion?” She asked, smiling at him with a teasing lilt in her voice. He scowled back at her, warning her not to question any further. 

 

Christmas morning dawned bright and cold. Ava awoke to a small pile of presents at the foot of her bed. They contained a sack of gold from her Aunt, who never really went to the trouble of picking her out a present every year but Ava wasn’t complaining, the old woman barely knew her and she could spend the money on something she actually wanted. Erin had sent a beautiful, ornate hair butterfly and Alphard had sent an expensive looking bracelet with a flirty note that made her smile. 

Cecilia woke up soon after Ava and the pair exchanged gifts, Ava opening an elegant pheasant feather quill and gold ink and Cecilia opening a silver hairbrush that would style her hair any way she wanted. 

“Do you reckon there’s enough people to fill up all of the tables in the hall?” Cecilia asked Ava as the pair of them walked down to the Great Hall for Christmas dinner at lunch time. 

“I’m not sure” Ava replied, “I’ve barely seen anyone around, have you?” 

“No, that’s what I was thinking” Cecilia replied, running her hands through her hair just before they entered the hall. Their suspicions were proved correct, one long table sat in the middle of the hall surrounded by gorgeous trees and decorations instead of the four house ones. 

Many students and all of the staff were already seated around the table, Professor Dippet at the head and everyone else intermixed. There were only a handful of seats left at the end by the doors so Ava and Cecilia hurriedly took two of them, looking around excitedly. It was rare that the castle was inhabited by so few, only about fifty people could be sat around the table, which was laden with Christmas crackers and empty gold platters. 

Lachlan and a Ravenclaw friend from the quidditch team came in next and sat down opposite the two girls. Lachlan sent Ava a wink and she laughed at him, throwing his gift across the table. He threw hers back at her as well. 

She had bought him a sneak-o-scope on their last visit to Hogsmeade and he had bought her ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Quidditch’ book. 

“Ha ha” she said dryly, but couldn’t keep the grin off of her face for long. While they had been opening their presents, the last two seats on the table - on Ava’s right - were filled by Tom Riddle and Cael Avery. 

Dippet clapped his hands for silence. 

“Well as much as I wish there were more of us for this happy occasion” he began with a wide smile down the table at everyone. 

“I am very glad to be in your company. A very merry Christmas to you all and let the feast begin!” 

On his last word food bloomed onto the empty platters before them and everyone dug in. Ava loaded her plate with pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, turkey and Yorkshire puddings. She noticed, despite herself, that Tom barely put anything on his plate and seemed distant and preoccupied again. She didn’t have any time to contemplate this though as Lachlan leaned across the table and offered her the end of a cracker. She took it with a wide smile. 

Bangs as loud as canons went off all around the hall as everyone started pulling their crackers too. A huge cavalier hat burst out of Lachlan’s cracker along with three tiny crystal vials. Professor Dippet was soon sporting a dancing christmas tree hat that was singing carols loudly. 

Ava pulled Cecilia’s cracker with her and a lace bonnet exploded from inside with some mice that scurried away immediately after their escape. Ava hesitated for a second, chewing her lip and playing with her long hair before summoning her courage and offering the other half of her cracker to Tom. He seemed surprised as she broke through his reverie and she smiled tentatively, her eyes wide and clearly worried about his reaction. With an expressionless, composed mask, he grasped the other end and pulled. Ava smiled, thinking that perhaps they were something more like friends than she thought but once she had gathered her Pirate’s hat and miniature broomstick from the table, his handsome face was turned not towards her but to Avery where they were having a whispered conversation. 

Her smile dropped for only a second before she hitched it expertly back into place. Yesterday had seemed like such an improvement, when they had continuously run into each other at Slughorn’s party, but now everything had fallen back to how it had been for the past week. She couldn’t figure out what was causing the incessant irritation that twisted at her insides whenever he ignored her, but something seemed to scratch at her very veins. 

She had a weird connection with Tom that she couldn’t quite explain. The were something close to friends but whenever she was too comfortable with him he’d go back to being distant and wear that impenetrable mask that concealed anything he may have been feeling. He certainly wasn’t as insufferable as she had first found him, nor was he as perfect and proper as he had seemed from afar. No, there was a lot more to Tom Riddle than met the eye. And lately she was sure he was up to something. She was determined to know what it was.

 

Ava and Cecilia said goodnight to each other that evening in the common room, Cecilia going through the door to the girl’s dormitories and going to bed, Ava remaining curled up on an arm chair reading the book Lachlan had gotten her - just for the simple pleasure of rubbing it in his face when she could keep up with his next quidditch rant. 

All of the remaining Slytherin’s trailed off to bed as the hour hand on the clock past midnight. Ava remained curled on the chair in front of the fire, but she had long since fallen asleep, her head resting on the crook of her elbow on the arm of the chair. The book had fallen from her lap to the floor where it lay open, it’s pages splayed and bent against the rug. 

Tom came into the common room past two in the morning with dark circles under his eyes. Another night’s fruitless searching and he was exhausted. The fire was still burning in the grate and although it was burning low it still threw bright, flickering light across the room. 

He noticed a lone figure in the armchair closest to the fire and the long silvery hair hanging over the arm alerted him to who it was at once. He drew closer, curious as to what Ava Rochford was doing up so late. Once close enough, he realised she was sleeping and shamelessly took advantage of the empty common room to examine her closely. 

Her skin was so pale it verged on translucent, perfectly clear and blemish free. He cocked his head as he surveyed her face. She seemed relaxed. Her large blue eyes were closed and long, pale lashes brushed her high cheekbones. 

A lock of silvery-blonde hair had fallen across her forehead and before he could stop himself, Tom stepped forwards and trapped it deftly between his fingers and brushed it back over the arm of the chair - being careful not to touch her skin. 

She was undeniably beautiful, he knew that. His mind however, was concerned by the aura of mystery that she was shrouded by far more than her appearance. 

He wanted to pick apart her secrets, to breach the secure walls behind which she concealed everything, her emotions, her thoughts. Ava Rochford was hiding something and Tom could barely stand not knowing what it was.


	13. The Last Sunset of 1942

The next few days passed in a haze of sleeping in, overeating and reading in the common room for Ava. She wiled away a few hours playing various games with Cecilia like gobstones and chess, but they both tired of them pretty quickly. It wasn’t like Cecilia had much time to spend with Ava anyway because - like Lachlan - she had not caught up with all of her schoolwork before Christmas and the start of term was looming incredibly close. 

Riddle seemed to have disappeared off of the face of the planet. He hadn’t been showing up to meal times, he couldn’t be found in the common room hunched over an ancient book and on the occasional wanderings Ava found herself on, she had not seen him in the library either. 

She didn’t know what to make of his strange behaviour but decided resolutely that she would not take it personally any longer. She was tired of looking around automatically for his dark hair wherever she went, tired of feeling like she had done something wrong or he had lost interest in being her friend. It was Riddle’s business, not hers. It’s not like she told him everything about herself anyway - everyone was entitled to secrets. 

It was new year’s eve and Ava was walking up towards the owlery with Lachlan, letters to Erin clutched in their hands, when they bumped into Professor Slughorn who stopped them in the corridor. 

“Avaline my dear girl, haven’t seen you since before Christmas!” He wagged a finger at her merrily. 

“You know I’d love for you to keep in closer touch. Just last night young Mr Riddle was in my office for a spot of tea. You’re certainly most welcome to come and visit me any time.”  
“I was at your party last week sir” Ava reminded him with a glowing smile, treading on Lachlan’s foot when he rolled his eyes at the pair of them. 

“Oh yes, I think I enjoyed myself a little too much that night to remember everything perfectly” Slughorn chortled jovially before tipping an imaginary hat to her. 

“Well it was lovely to bump into you Miss Rochford, remember what I said about coming to see me - oh and do wish Mr Riddle a happy birthday for me won’t you?” 

With that, he bustled off down the corridor. Ava was frozen, watching Slughorn’s large figure out of sight. It was Tom’s birthday? She had never known, never asked. 

“That time he completely ignored me!” Lachlan exclaimed to her right as soon as Slughorn was out of earshot. His Scottish accent was always much stronger when he was angry. 

“First he gets my name wrong all of the time, now he ignores my existence! It’s not like I have bad grades or anything” he fumed, towing Ava by the sleeve up the next flight of stairs for she was only half listening. 

“Right” she murmured. She wondered whether Tom and Cael where celebrating somewhere. Somehow she doubted it, the pair of them always seemed to talk in a way that suggested business more than friendship. 

“I just really can’t stand him, the fat, moustached, old wart” 

Ava smiled at him, finally tuning in to his monologue. 

“I know he frustrates you but there’s no need to get so worked up about it” she soothed, looping her arm through his and taking the lead on their trek upwards through the castle. The sandy haired boy scoffed at her. 

“You wouldn’t know, he treats you like you’re some kind of rare diamond” he spat and Ava raised her eyebrows, knowing he didn’t mean it how it had come out. 

“Sorry” he mumbled, looking down at his feet. 

“That’s alright” she replied airily. 

 

Ava kept her eyes open for Riddle for all of the rest of the day. Since she knew he wasn’t likely to be haunting the library or the common room she expanded her search. This resulted in wandering fairly aimlessly around the rest of the castle. 

It was on the fourth floor that she was nearly barrelled over by someone hurtling from behind a large mirror hung on the wall. They caught her around the middle before she could topple over and helped her remain upright. 

“Sorry Ava” 

Momentarily blinded by the cheeky, boyish grin of Michael Prewett, Ava choked on her words for a moment before managing to spit out; 

“No harm done” 

Glancing back warily at the passageway Michael gripped the crook of her elbow and guided her quickly away from the spot they had been in. 

“Probably not a good idea for you to be seen around here right now” he said, rubbing the back of his neck and still smiling broadly. 

“Mr Pringle may or may not be chasing me with a cane” 

Ava grinned back, picking up their pace so that they cleared a flight of stairs downwards within a few seconds. 

“What did you do this time?” She asked teasingly, trying her best to envision Alphard when looking at him. Flirting with Alphard was easy, flirting with Michael would be easy too. 

“What do you mean this time?” Michael asked, pretending to be offended and holding a hand dramatically to his heart. 

“I’ll have you know I am an exemplary student” 

Ava laughed and bit her lip. It was so easy to talk to him, even if her mind was working sluggishly - preferring to concentrate on his adorable freckles and green eyes than what he was saying. 

“PREWETT!” The unmistakable bellow of Apollyon Pringle - the caretaker - could be heard from the floor above. 

“Maybe we should speed up” Ava said, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes. She had never received punishment from Pringle herself, but she had heard he was brutal. 

“Couldn’t agree more” Michael nodded and the pair of them started running. Halfway along the next corridor Michael grabbed her hand and yanked her behind a tapestry that concealed a passage that sloped steeply downwards. 

“Careful” he said, making sure she didn't run straight onto the slope and slip down the smooth stone. They stood close together on a thin ledge just behind the tapestry. 

“This’ll take us to the entrance hall, I reckon we should hide outside for a bit” 

“Sounds good” Ava replied and hesitantly put a foot flat on the chute. 

Michael laughed beside her and she looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. 

“What?” 

“You’re supposed to slide down it genius” he snickered, tapping the top of her head before sitting down and gesturing for her to sit next to him. She did so and before she could say anything else Michael had pushed off, leaning backwards to give himself more speed. Ava could hear him laughing already a little way away before she pushed off herself. 

She had to hold her skirt down; but other than that it was quite fun. The chute twisted and turned unexpectedly but she never hit the walls, she supposed there was some kind of magic for that. 

Finally, the slide levelled out and Michael was standing at the end of the passage waiting for her. He offered her a hand and helped her to her feet. 

“Not a bad way to get around is it?” He asked her and she couldn’t help but share his enthusiasm. His smile was catching. 

“So where are we?” She asked, peering around him to see solid stone walls. 

“Entrance hall” he replied, taking out his wand and tapping the wall in front of him. It immediately rumbled and shifted sideways, creating a gap large enough for them to slip through. They did so and Ava realised they had emerged from underneath the marble stairs. The gap in the wall closed behind them and Ava smiled widely at Michael. 

“That was pretty cool” she admitted, patting down her hair and checking her clothes weren’t too rumpled. 

“Are you coming outside? We can catch sunset” Michael asked her, inclining his head towards the open front doors. 

“Definitely” she agreed and together they walked out to find the grounds completely saturated by orange light as the sun blazed low on the horizon. Ava could see a few clouds bathed in brilliant pink and darkness had already began to fall on the opposite horizon. 

Both of them stood still for a moment, drinking in the glorious sunset. The gamekeeper’s hut was in the distance, puffing smoke from the small chimney. The forbidden forest stood dark and intimidating a little beyond that. The lake was reflecting all of the brilliant colours of the sky, it looked like glass completely undisturbed by even a ripple. 

Then, with a jolt in her stomach Ava noticed a figure on the opposite bank of the lake. He was sprawled on the grass, facing away from the sun, his robes folded next to him and his jumper sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looked like he was writing something. 

She had completely forgotten about Tom. Her whole reason for wandering around the castle in the first place. 

“Michael I am so sorry, but I have to go” she said sincerely, looking at the red haired boy next to her. A shame, because she was really having a good time with him. But it couldn’t be helped. 

“Oh alright then” Michael shrugged casually, looking down at the ground quickly. Ava took a deep breath.

“I really enjoyed bumping into you though, maybe we can do something like this again sometime?” She kept her gaze on Riddle’s distant figure rather than look at him now. Her stomach seemed to be consuming itself. Or at least it felt that way. 

“Yeah, I’d love to” he grinned at her and she met his gaze, smiling back. 

“I think I’m going to go and grab some dinner, I’m pretty sure they just opened the doors” he started to back away and she waved at him before facing forwards again and walking quickly over to where Tom lay on the bank of the lake. 

“You!” She shouted over to him once she was within hearing distance and he sat up quickly, looking alarmed. 

Seeing it was only Ava he relaxed, tucking whatever he had been writing on into his bag and leaning backwards on one hand. 

“Yes?” He asked lazily, blinking a little more than usual in the brightness of the setting sun.

“Why didn’t you tell me it’s your birthday?” She demanded, marching towards him with her arms folded. 

“I didn’t think it was of any importance” he said nonchalantly, stretching his arms above his head and cracking his neck. He had been outside for most of the day. 

“Well it is” Ava insisted, her eyes following him closely. 

“I haven’t got you anything” 

“Why would you have?” He asked with an eyebrow raised, not fully understanding why she was so agitated. 

“Because that’s what friends do!” 

Tom froze at her words. Friends. That had been what he wanted hadn’t it? For her to trust him, to confide in him, to be her friend. Having it said aloud however made the whole situation seem very unfamiliar. 

He stood up immediately and faced her, his emotions getting the better of him. He didn’t have friends. He didn’t need friends. 

“We are hardly friends Rochford” he seethed. His expression swiftly resuming his normal impenetrable mask. 

Ava gave him a haughty look, folded her arms and leaned her weight onto one leg, only sparing the lake a glance before looking back up into his dark hazel eyes. 

“The sooner you accept it Riddle, the easier this’ll be” she replied. He stared at her wordlessly for a moment before looking out over the grounds. The sun was barely a sliver on the horizon any more. 

Ava took a step forwards, she knew what she was about to do was entering dangerous territory, but it was his birthday and no one except for her and Slughorn seemed to care. 

Tom watched her warily. The last bit of sunlight was throwing her silhouette into a fiery glow. Her silvery hair was flying in every direction in the wind and her overlarge eyes were watching him cautiously as she walked closer. Slowly - incredibly slowly - she leaned up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his middle, her face pressed into his shoulder. 

Tom stood stock still and looked down at the top of her head, wondering if she had lost her mind. They didn’t do physical contact.

She held on though, pressed against him until the orange glow of the sun faded completely when she let go enough to tilt her head back and meet his eyes. 

“Happy birthday” she smiled. 

And even though he hadn’t made a move to return the hug or said anything at all, Ava knew that he hadn’t really minded.


	14. There's No Cure for Nosiness

In what seemed to be a blink of an eye the school was buzzing with life as everyone returned from the Christmas break. Ava was quietly relieved when the girl’s dormitory was full again, spending all of her time with Cecilia wasn’t bad but she preferred Erin’s company. 

Alphard greeted her jovially when he walked into the common room, as did many people that she vaguely knew from other year groups. She smiled and waved at everyone who called out to her in greeting but really she was just pleased to see Erin and Alphard. 

 

The group of girls sat huddled around the Slytherin fire sharing stories about their time away. Felicia had been sending letters to Alphard and was gleefully retelling his responses, Druella told them how she had spent the whole of the break being prompted to visit the Black family for ‘her future prospects’. Apparently they were trying to pair her off with one of Alphard’s many cousins. 

Soon enough it was time for dinner and they all walked down to the great hall, still catching up on everything they had missed. Ava noticed Lestrange come in and sit down a little way down the table with Riddle and his friends. He didn’t so much as look at her, which was out of character for him. Usually they would be tossing insults at each other about then. 

Professor Dippet called for silence and began his speech. Ava found herself tuning most of it out, until he reached the end and took on a much more sombre tone. 

“Finally, as I am sure you are all aware, Grindelwald’s forces are growing ever stronger across the channel” he paused to allow some quiet muttering before continuing. 

“I have been advised by the Minister of Magic that there is a high chance of him coming to this country in the coming months. I tell you this not to frighten you - but to put you on your guard.” He cast an eye over everyone in the hall, who had suddenly become very still and silent. 

“It is likely that Hogwarts will be one of the first places that Grindelwald will seek to conquer, for control over the minds of young witches and wizards such as yourselves would be crucial to the success of his terrible cause. It is for this reason that I have allowed dementors to guard the school premises. They will be on guard day and night at the borders to the grounds so I implore all of you, do not give them any reason to harm you” 

With one more look around the hall, Dippet sat down and food appeared on all of the tables. No one seemed overly enthusiastic to eat at that point though. Ava noticed that Professor Dumbledore had his head bowed over his plate and his hands were tense on the table. 

“All cheery things for New Years” Alphard said sarcastically, filling his plate with a large slice of steak pie and mashed potatoes. 

“Things must be serious if they’ve got dementors all over the place” Erin commented. She looked how Ava felt at the news, quite ill. 

While she slowly began to fill up her plate with all the makings of a perfect roast dinner, Ava caught Lestrange’s eye from a little way down the table. The colour drained from his face and he looked away swiftly, staring down at the table in front of him. Ava noticed that he was clutching his cutlery so tightly his knuckles had turned white. She frowned in confusion, that wasn’t normal. 

 

The first week passed much in the way Ava expected it would. She went to classes, did her homework, Erin took a fancy to a sixth year Ravenclaw, Alphard flirted with Felicia and Riddle ignored her existence. 

On Thursday night she abandoned her charms practice, having turned nearly eight glasses of vinegar to wine and left Erin and Druella to struggle with the spell while she left the common room for prefect patrol, expecting Tom to be waiting for her since he was no where in sight in the common room. 

However, when she stepped into the corridor outside it was to find it deserted. 

She leaned against the wall by the concealed door of the common room, looking up and down the hall in case he hurried into sight. He didn't. Irritation licked at her insides and she felt magic pulsing just beneath her skin. So now he was ignoring his prefect duties as well as her now. 

Five minutes passed and Ava was just considering walking off without him when Abraxas Malfoy rounded the corner of the corridor and swaggered up to her. 

"Tom asked me to tell you that he is running behind and will be here shortly" he drawled, mimicking her position as he leaned sideways against the wall. 

"Oh? Where is he?" Ava asked politely, masking the annoyance in her voice and quirking an eyebrow at him. 

Abraxas looked vaguely uncomfortable, as though he didn't know what he was supposed to tell her. This piqued Ava's interest even more and she was struck by a wicked idea. 

"Come on Abraxas, who would I tell?" She asked teasingly, taking a step towards him and brushing her hair behind her ear. Malfoy's hand immediately jumped to his own platinum hair to smooth it down. 

"Uh-" he said stupidly as she drew even closer, looking up at him from under her lashes. 

"Where is he?" She breathed and he swallowed audibly before glancing over her shoulder and tensing all over. He stepped backwards, his gaze still fixed behind her. Ava turned as he finally answered her question. 

"Right there." He then turned abruptly and slipped into the common room.

"Good evening" Tom said cordially as she met his eyes. He gestured for them to start walking and she complied, mentally cursing his poor timing. She was sure Malfoy had been about to tell her what she wanted to know. 

Ava didn’t say anything as the pair traced their well-established route through the castle. She was angry that he had been late, angry that he’d interrupted Malfoy finally revealing where Tom was spending all of his time and incredibly angry that he was still ignoring her even after she had insisted that they were friends on his birthday. She was done acting like a kicked puppy all the time he was ignoring her. She wasn’t going to vie for his attention any longer, she was Ava Rochford.

Now that she was trying, she realised how hard it was not to look at him walking silently beside her. She was so used to studying his facial expressions on these walks, used to trying to decipher the thoughts behind the dark hazel eyes. Staring straight ahead was much more difficult than she would have believed. Not to mention the effort of keeping a mild, uninterested expression on her own face so that she didn’t betray any of her true feelings. 

“You seem different” Tom commented about half way through their patrol. 

Ava chewed her lower lip to keep herself from looking at him. 

“Do I?” She replied absently, clearly intending for the question to be taken as rhetorical and effectively ending the conversation. This tactic only increased Tom’s intrigue in her unusual behaviour. He noticed a muscle in her jaw jump and she seemed tense. 

“Is there something bothering you?” He continued to probe, examining her profile intently. He hoped that she might be agitated or angry, that she might slip up in her well practiced act. 

“Nothing at all” she flashed him a quick smile and looked into his eyes incredibly briefly before ignoring him again. Tom glared at her. She had never dismissed him like that before and for some reason he didn’t like it. 

 

Ava continued ignoring Tom as thoroughly as he had been ignoring her for the past month or so and slowly her mind stopped being so focussed on him. She no longer sought him out in crowds that passed her, she didn’t look round if he was nearby and she didn’t even blink when he turned up late to potions, something that had never happened before. 

Since the start of the spring term potions partners were no longer pre-selected by Slughorn. He allowed them to choose who to work with and Erin and Ava were delighted to finally be reunited in class. 

They had been working on a calming draught on the last lesson of the day when the bell rang.   
“Alright everyone, leave your potions to stew until tomorrow’s lesson!” Slughorn called above the noise of everyone packing up their things. 

“Thank god that’s over, I am absolutely starving” Erin commented, rubbing her stomach to keep it from rumbling while she shoved her textbook into her bag. 

Ava nodded in agreement, slinging her own bag over her shoulder and turning in time to see Tom and Abraxas getting up from the table next to them. It might have been her imagination, but Ava could have sworn that Tom had dark circles under his eyes. She watched them leave their table without really meaning to before noticing that he had left something on the desk by their cauldron. 

She leaned over to pick it up and saw that it was some kind of journal. 

“Hey - Riddle!” She called after him, holding up the small, black book for him to see. Except he had already disappeared out of the door.

“What’s that?” Erin asked, only half interested in the answer. 

“A journal I think” Ava replied, inspecting the leather bound book in her hands.  
It was in great condition, the leather was soft beneath her fingertips and the pages inside were blank. Had it been some kind of present that he had yet to use? She turned the journal over and found ‘Tom Marvolo Riddle’ embossed on the back cover. 

Marvolo. What an unusual name. Ava thought to herself. Erin tapped her foot loudly and impatiently by the door and Ava took the hint, putting the book carefully away and following Erin to the common room. 

On their way back up to the great hall for dinner once they had dropped off their bags, Ava and Erin almost walked right into Lestrange who was coming down the stairs.   
Lestrange passed Ava without so much as a glance in her direction. On the contrary, he stared resolutely at the floor whenever she saw him since he got back from Christmas. Ava felt incredibly conflicted with this new attitude. 

On the one hand, she knew she should be relieved that he had finally decided to stop shouting disgusting things at her down the dinner table, that he no longer threw insults at her in the common room and had ceased trying to hex her between classes.

However, his sudden and complete ceasefire unnerved her. True, she had been fairly badly hurt in the duelling club and he may have felt some kind of remorse for what he had done; but refusing to acknowledge her existence seemed like more than regret. 

The next time Ava was in library studying with Lachlan - who was more interested in trying to animate an origami frog he had made - she couldn't help herself. Lestrange had entered the library with Malfoy and the pair of them had taken seats at the table beside Ava and Lachlan's. 

She leaned on the back two legs of her chair, studying the two boys closely. They didn't look up as they started to work. 

"Hey Lestrange" she whispered loudly across to their table. It was only a two foot gap and she knew he could hear her clearly in the silence of the library but he didn't look up. 

"Cepheus" she hissed, throwing a scrunched up piece of parchment at the side of his head. Lestrange exchanged a look with Malfoy before looking at her wordlessly. 

"Don't you just love nature?" She asked, grinning as she gestured to one of the wide windows that showed the grounds. 

"I mean, despite what it did to you" 

Rather than firing off a comeback or drawing his wand, Cepheus looked at her amused face impassively before turning back to his work like nothing had happened. The smile dropped off of Ava's face. The change in him was impervious to provocation it seemed. What on earth had happened to the Lestrange she knew and hated? 

 

That night Ava lay awake for hours. She didn’t know why she was having such a hard time falling asleep but a nagging in the back of her mind could not stop reminding her of the black leather book that Riddle had dropped in potions. 

Sighing with frustration, she gave in to her curiosity and sat up in bed. She could hear the deep breathing and light snores issuing from behind the closed hangings of Erin, Felicia, Druella and Cecilia’s beds. 

Ava ran a hand through her hair and held up a hand, palm facing her schoolbag at the foot of her bed and concentrated on summoning the journal. Her bag shifted a little, then the book came flying towards her. She caught it in the tips of her fingers and examined it again. 

The shaft of moonlight falling on her bed hardly illuminated the soft leather, so she impatiently drew her bed hangings with a twist of her hand and leaned back on her pillows. She used one hand to conjure a small sphere of white light and with the other she turned the book over to inspect the name stamped on the back. 

Then she turned to a random page and had to stop herself from gasping. Unlike earlier, when all there had been were blank, cream pages, there was now a long list of names written in Riddle’s careful, neat script. 

With wide eyes, Ava sat up a little straighter and flicked the pages back to the very start. She saw some names that she recognised from her year group; Mary Van Allen from Gryffindor, Alya Farley from Ravenclaw and Henry Edwards from Hufflepuff to name a few. With a jolt Ava read Lachlan’s name. Most of the other names she recognised but couldn’t put her finger on why. Perhaps they were students in years above or below that she didn’t know. The names spanned pages and pages, covering at least a quarter of the book.   
Ava couldn’t make any sense of it, what did these names mean? Were they all part of some sort of club? That didn’t seem very likely, Lachlan would have mentioned any club he had joined. So who were they? 

And another thing, Ava thought as she leaned closer to the pages, why couldn’t she see the names when she had looked earlier? It was no secret that Tom prided himself in his magical skill and so she wouldn’t be surprised if the magical light she was using to see had something to do with it.   
Eager to test this theory, she disintegrated the light and yanked one of the hangings open, thrusting the journal forwards into the moonlight. 

Sure enough, bathed in the dim moonlight, it was undeniable that the writing was gone.


	15. Aquarius

January passed in a blur of snow and homework. Everything settled back into the same routine it had been in before the Christmas break. Ava spent nearly all of her time either in lessons or in the library. She had fallen asleep at her favourite library desk on more than one occasion. 

"Do you think he's ever going to ask me out?" Felicia pouted over her stew and dumplings in early February, her eyes on Alphard's back as he left the hall. 

"I'm sure he will soon" Druella reassured her, Ava grimaced behind her back. Alphard was as close to asking Felicia out as proposing to the giant squid but she wouldn't be a very good friend if she said that out loud.

“I am so tired of the amount of work we have non stop” Erin grumbled over her own dinner. 

“You realise we have four essays due in this week alone? What kind of monsters would choose to do that to us” 

“Maybe if you spent a little less time with Sean you’d have time to do them” Ava commented with a wry smile. Sean was the sixth year Ravenclaw Erin had been seeing. 

“Oh whatever” Erin poked her tongue out at her friend and prodded her steak and kidney pie with a fork. 

Suddenly, the general chatter in the great hall was broken by an ear piercing scream that sounded like it was coming from beyond the entrance hall. Silence fell for a second before the noise picked up twice as loud as before. 

“Everyone please remain seated” Professor Dippet’s voice rang out above the talk.

“What the hell is happening out there?” Erin asked Ava in a low voice over the table. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the doors that led to the entrance hall. 

“Maybe we should-“ Erin started, rising to her feet but Ava yanked her back down by her sleeve. 

“Look, the teachers are going” 

Professor’s Dippet, Dumbledore, Slughorn and Merrythought were all hurrying out of the hall looking extremely concerned. A loud talk broke out over the hall again and many people - mainly from the Gryffindor table - rose to their feet and followed the teachers to get a look at what was going on. 

“Come on Ava I want to see!” Erin said exasperatedly, standing up again and pulling Ava with her. Alfred was hot on their heels. 

“Erin the headmaster said we should stay in the hall!” Ava protested. She was a prefect after all, she was supposed to be setting an example. Erin dragged her along, following the crowd up a flight of stairs and into a corridor on the first floor. 

They were met by the most peculiar sight that Ava had ever seen. The students had formed a large semi circle around the tight huddle of teachers who were all leaning over something that was laying at the foot of the wall. The grey stone wall they were in front of bore seven words that were dripping red. 

‘The Chamber of Secrets has been opened.’

Alphard pushed to the front of the gathering crowd so that the three of them had a good view of what the teachers were examining. Professor Dumbledore shifted to the left and Ava’s stomach turned over. She had caught a glimpse of a young first year girl lying on the floor, one of her hands outstretched. Her eyes were wide and glassy and her expression was of the upmost terror. She looked dead. 

“Everyone back to their common rooms please at once, prefects please kindly escort members of your house back to the common rooms immediately” Professor Merrythought had stepped away from the girl and was trying to push the crowd back to give the teachers some room. Ava’s mind was whirring too fast to really listen to what Merrythought was saying. 

Was that girl dead? What had killed her? What was the chamber of secrets? 

She felt herself being shunted this way and that by the crowd and mindlessly walked towards the dungeons, her eyes distant as she thought of that girl’s eyes. 

The common room was packed and noisy that night, everyone chipping in what they thought had happened and the tales got taller and taller the longer they went without hearing anything from the teachers. 

Lestrange could be heard proclaiming he had seen that she was only half a body, that she had been ripped apart from the waist down. A small second year girl insisted that half of her face had been caved in and that she had seen her brain. 

Several hours passed before Professor Slughorn came into the common room looking incredibly perturbed. Everyone fell silent at his arrival, leaning in eagerly to hear what he had to say. 

“I am sorry to say that the girl that was found has been petrified” Slughorn began. 

“The culprit is as yet unknown, but rest assured that whoever it was that did this will be subject to the most severe punishment and undoubtedly expulsion. Until that person is caught, the headmaster thinks it best that curfew be moved up an hour. Nobody should wander around on their own after dark either” 

Slughorn nodded once, seeming unusually grave before seeing himself out of the common room. 

Ava and the rest of the fifth year Slytherin girls exchanged worried glances. 

“At least she’s not dead” Cecilia reasoned with a shrug of her shoulders. 

 

“So what is this Chamber of Secrets?” Ava asked Alphard as they walked past the spot on the first floor where a few days ago the young girl had been attacked. There had not been another incident like it, however the school matron currently had no cure to wake her. 

The message on the wall had been scrubbed clean but if you looked closely you could still see some of the red that had bled into the tiny cracks in the stone. 

“It’s some ancient Slytherin legend” Alphard said, scrunching his face up. 

“The pureblood families talk about it sometimes. Apparently when Slytherin fell out with the other founders about who to let into Hogwarts he built a chamber with some sort of monster inside that would kill off all the muggleborns in the school.” 

“That’s horrible!” Ava felt disgusted. 

“I know, but you know what my family’s like, ‘purebloods are the best’ and all that” Alphard rolled his eyes at the thought of the Black’s. 

“Besides, I think it’s just something they tell they’re kids to reinforce the point of muggleborns not belonging at Hogwarts. If it were a real thing someone would have found it by now, someone was just trying to pull a joke on all of us with that writing on the wall darling.” 

He seemed extremely confident but Ava didn't share his feelings. Hogwarts had many secrets, it was perfectly plausible that Slytherin had built some kind of hidden chamber. What made less sense was a monster that could have survived so many years cooped up in solitude. 

There had been no improvement in the young girl’s condition since the only cure was a Mandrake draught and there were no Mandrakes currently in the castle. The herbology teacher had to order in some saplings to raise but it would take months before they were mature enough to concoct the potion. There had also been no leads on whoever had attacked her, meaning there was naught to be done except wait doe her to wake up to identify her attacker. 

Days passed without answers from the staff about who might have attacked the girl, and without any new information talk about the attack died down pretty swiftly. After all, the attacker would have to be caught eventually. 

 

Ever since she had arrived at Hogwarts, Ava had dreaded her birthday. She had never had a problem before this; her parents had spoiled her when she was young and when they were killed her Aunt gave her a decent amount of money to buy herself a present with. She had never had to pay much attention to the particular date of her birthday until she went to school. Unfortunately, for the wider population February fourteenth was not just Ava Rochford’s birthday. It was Valentine’s day.

Ava could not keep the revulsion from her face when she walked into the great hall for breakfast. The tables were covered in pink tablecloths, Valentine’s themed confectionary littered the place and horrid little cherubs floated around the room, strumming harps and pretending to fire arrows at people. Cards were also zooming around the room, the senders charming them to fly over to their loved ones so as to remain anonymous. 

“It’s kind of depressing that you get more Valentine’s than birthday cards” Erin commented with an eyebrow raised, staring at the stack by Ava’s breakfast plate when she sat down. 

“Don’t even start with me today” Ava grumbled, swiping the cards off of the table and into her bag with her arm without opening any of them. Erin held up her hands in mock surrender. 

“I’m just making an observation, did you want to do anything in particular today birthday girl?”

“I just want to get through the day in peace” Ava scowled, picking up one of the heart shaped lollipops off of the table and smashing it on her plate. 

“Woah woah, why so violent love?” Alphard came and sat with them, rescuing what was left of the lollipop from Ava’s clutches. 

Ava shot him a withering look and he grinned, pulling a neatly wrapped present out of his bag. 

“For you.” The glare melted off of her face and she beamed as she accepted the present, ripping through the green wrapping paper in a matter of seconds. 

It was a pair of glittering diamond stud earrings and Ava was sure she’d never have an event fancy enough to attend to warrant wearing them. 

“Oh Alphard they’re beautiful” she whispered, marvelling the way that they caught the light.

“Well they kind of put my present to shame.” A Scottish accent sounded from over her shoulder before Lachlan squeezed onto the bench. 

“Hey!” Ava grinned at him, eyeing the extremely large present in his arms that he put down gently onto the table. 

“You have to open it right now, it can’t stay wrapped up long” 

Ava didn’t need telling twice. In a few seconds she was gripping the cold metal bars of an owl cage. 

“Lachlan when did you- how even-“ No coherent question could form in her mind as she took in the gorgeous spotted owl blinking at her from inside the cage. 

“A magician never reveals his secrets” he grinned and - seeing the confused looks the Slytherin’s were giving him - sighed and added, “it’s a muggle thing.” 

Ava was barely listening, still admiring her owl. It looked back at her and she suddenly thought it was a shame to keep it locked in it’s cage. She fumbled with the latch to let it loose and it fluttered out, hopping onto the table by her breakfast plate. 

“What are you going to call it?” Erin asked, tapping her fingers on the table as she looked out for the sixth year she had been seeing at the Ravenclaw table. 

“Strix” Ava decided out loud, slowly extending her fingers and stroking the owls glossy feathers. 

“It’s a girl by the way” Lachlan said, looking ecstatic with how taken Ava was with the owl. 

After taking her new owl safely up to the owlery, Ava’s morning passed very much the way every other morning did. Transfiguration and Potions passed somewhat uneventfully except for Slughorn giving her an extra hearty wink and a sugar quill at the end of the lesson for her birthday. Ancient Runes proved no easier than usual, but Ava struggled through as she usually did, consulting the dictionary and nudging Alphard when she was confused. 

Tom pointed out a couple of her mistranslations here and there which was odd, seeing as he normally kept to himself in lessons. Ava didn’t like how aware of him sitting next to her she was so she let her long hair provide a curtain between them so that she didn’t have to look at his face.

Celebrations in the Slytherin common room were raucous that evening, even though Ava insisted that she wanted a quiet night to work. Her friends were having none of it. Alphard had been down to the kitchens and rustled up a magnificent spread of cakes, sandwiches and butterbeer; not to mention the enormous white-frosted birthday cake that sat in the centre of it all. 

A few first years hung around the group and Ava invited them to eat as much of the food as they liked - there was certainly enough to go around. However, most of the students seemed more irritated by the loud celebrations and many retired to bed early. A few remained tucked into far corners of the common room - couples that were still feeling the valentine’s day vibe. 

It was only ten minutes to curfew when a group of sixth years came in, one of them spotted Ava’s blonde head and hurried over. 

“Hey, Ava right?” 

Ava looked round at them surprised. 

“Yeah?” 

“There’s someone waiting outside for you.” 

With that they walked off to rejoin their friends. Perplexed, Ava pushed open the door of the common room, expecting to see Lachlan maybe - who couldn't join the festivities since he was in Ravenclaw - but certainly not expecting to see a red-haired twin. 

“Michael?” She asked, her step faltering when she realised who it was and her heart rate picking up. 

“Hey” he grinned at her, leaning casually against the wall opposite. 

“A little birdie told me it’s your birthday”

“For a few more hours.” Ava replied, sounding shy and completely unlike herself. 

“Well, birthday girl, are you feeling a little rebellious?” He asked, offering her a hand with a knowing look in his eyes that told her he already knew the answer. 

Ava bit her lip and glanced up and down the corridor. She really shouldn’t go with him, it was a few minutes to curfew and she was a prefect after all. 

Apparently she was taking too long to decide because Michael grabbed her hand from her side and started to pull her along. 

“Come on Princess, I’ll keep you safe.” 

"We shouldn't! It's after hours and I'm a prefect" she hissed as he towed her along the corridor, not wanting to admit the thrill of excitement that was racing through her.

"Ava, we won't get caught" Michael smirked at her, as if he knew that he was already winning her internal debate, his hand squeezed hers and that sent her reeling. 

"Better to be safe than be sorry" she argued, trying feebly to tug her hand from his grasp as he started to pull her up the stairs. He laughed in response and she looked around in panic in case anyone was around to hear. 

"Better to ask forgiveness than permission" he countered with a wink. Ava's heart melted and she stopped protesting, following him willingly as he led her up the stairs from the dungeons, through the deserted entrance hall and out into the grounds - how he knew the doors wouldn’t be locked was a mystery.

Once they stepped out into the cool night air Michael's hand grip loosened on her hand so that he could intertwine their fingers together. Ava was glad it was so dark so that he couldn't see her blush. Her stomach was doing backflips and her head felt light. Unnoticed by either of them, the frozen grass under Ava's feet started to grow and small flowers popped out of the earth.

“So where are we going exactly?” She asked, trying to keep her tone casual. 

“I won’t lie, I didn’t really plan much past sneaking out” Michael admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand and Ava giggled, mentally slapping herself immediately. She should be acting cooler than this. 

“I figured it wasn’t something you’d be used to doing, being a prefect and all that.” He continued in a teasing voice, pulling her along effortlessly closer to the lake. 

“Yeah, well” Ava spluttered, unable to think up a witty response. 

“Well it’s a pretty clear night.” Michael stopped suddenly and sat down, dropping Ava’s hand. The loss of the warm contact made her frown a little but she joined him, tucking her legs under her body to try and retain some warmth. It was so cold that little goosebumps had sprung up on the back of Ava’s neck and along her arms, even though they were under her robes. Her breath was rising in a mist in front of her eyes and she watched it, eventually looking up at the stars. 

“Astronomy is my favourite subject” Michael supplied to fill the silence. He leaned back on one arm and pointed up at a cluster of stars. 

“That’s Orion’s belt and over there,” he pointed somewhere else, “that’s Andromeda.” 

“That’s a pretty name.” Ava murmured, looking at the moon’s reflection in the lake. 

“Yeah it is” Michael looked at her and grinned. Ava hoped the darkness hid her blush. 

“I suppose I should return you before you freeze to death” he mused over her whiter-than-usual face. 

“Suppose so” she said quietly, shivering despite herself. She wanted to say that she’d rather freeze to death right here and die happy but kept it to herself. She allowed him to pull her to her feet and take her back inside the castle. 

The pair of them shuddered when they stepped back into the warmth of the castle. Although it could get cold within the stone walls, it was nothing like actually being outside. 

“I think your fingers have turned blue” Michael joked, pulling Ava’s hands level with his mouth and blowing on them softly to warm them up. Ava felt a whole round of new shivers overtake her. 

“Come on, I think we’re pushing our luck” he said when he let go of her, checking the watch on his wrist. Ava couldn’t think of anything to say and just nodded, letting him lead her back down to the dungeons and the Slytherin common room. 

“Are you sure you won’t get caught going back upstairs?” She asked worriedly, compulsively looking over her shoulder every few steps to see if a teacher was anywhere in sight. 

“Don’t worry Princess, I can handle myself” Michael winked at her and stopped outside the stretch of wall concealing the Slytherin common room. 

“I’ll see you later then” he coughed and shuffled his feet a little and for the first time Ava thought he looked a little nervous. She cocked her head at him. 

“Alright, thank you for tonight, it was lovely” she smiled, trying her best to sound normal and not blush. 

“Right” Michael acknowledged her words without seeming like he was actually listening. He had stepped closer to her. Ava stayed very still, holding her breath and hardly daring to believe that this was happening. It was like she had tripped into some alternate dimension. 

Michael tucked a strand of her white-blonde hair behind her ear and leaned closer to her face, apparently waiting for her to back away or meet him in the middle. Ava was too nervous to do either, she stayed stock still. 

At the last second Michael seemed to lose his nerve and gave her a swift peck on the cheek before he was high-tailing it down the corridor. Ava couldn’t be sure since he had moved so quickly, but she could have sworn she saw the tips of his ears turn a fiery red. 

Smiling to herself she touched her cheek and mumbled the password to get into the common room. 

 

Tom Riddle had spent most of his evening in the chamber of secrets. He couldn’t explain the draw the place held for him, maybe it was it’s exclusivity. No one else knew it’s location or could possibly enter it. It was his place alone. Maybe it was the power over the basilisk that no one else possessed, being in the chamber made him truly feel like the heir of Slytherin. It was his rightful place. 

He was on his way back quite late when he heard footsteps coming up from a corridor just behind him. Silently, he slipped behind a suit of armour and waited for whoever it was to pass. He suspected it was a teacher on patrol. 

Rochford’s hair made her immediately recognisable wherever she went. It was very unusual for her to be out and about past curfew. She took her role as prefect very seriously. She was walking beside someone taller than her, being towed along almost as she glanced continuously over her shoulder with a worried look on her face. Curiouser and curiouser. 

Tom raised an eyebrow as the pair passed him, making sure to stay silent behind the suit of armour. It wasn’t like Rochford to break school rules. Then a flicker of torchlight illuminated the person beside her and of course it made sense. Prewett would have talked her into it. She seemed to have a soft spot when it came to him. 

He waited for them to round the corner, counting to twenty in his head before following. Sure enough, the corridor was deserted, Rochford presumably having re-entered the common room and Prewett having scurried back up to Gryffindor tower. 

Tom slipped into the room just as Ava climbed the first step to the girl’s dormitories. She turned at the sound of him entering, her hand on her heart and her blue eyes wide. 

“Tom! You gave me such a fright” She scolded, having been convinced it was a teacher about to give her detention for wandering around so late. 

“What are you doing up?” 

“I could ask you the same question” Tom replied, fixing her with an appraising look, as though the answer he was looking for was written somewhere on her robes. 

A light blush crossed her cheeks which piqued Tom’s interest even further. She was usually very good at keeping her expressions in check but he read her embarrassment like she was an open book. 

“Well, I guess we both have our secrets then” she said softly, refusing to meet his gaze. If possible, this bothered him even more. 

“Goodnight.” She turned to leave and Tom found himself stepping forwards, unwilling to let this conversation end. 

“Rochford?” He called across the room and she turned her head, looking at him over her shoulder with one hand on the bannister. 

“Happy birthday” he said emotionlessly as the clock on the mantlepiece chimed midnight.


	16. Knowledge is Power, if You Know it about the Right Person

February continued to pass and the snow that had seemed to be permanently covering the grounds melted away due to a constant downpour of rain. Ava’s anxiety about the exams seemed to be climbing with each passing day, Erin’s concern over them seemed to be decreasing at the same rate.

“Hey” Erin said, kicking Ava under the table in the common room as her blonde friend continued to pour over her Ancient Runes textbook.

“What?” Ava asked politely, her fingers tightening on her quill as she fought not to snap at Erin for interrupting her. It was hard enough to work in the common room with all the noise without being kicked.

“You’re about five minutes late for patrol” Erin replied, lounging back in her chair and glancing at the watch on her wrist. Ava looked up at her, momentarily confused.

“You know, prefect patrol” Erin said slowly, as though Ava had lost her mind.

“Oh no!” Ava clapped a hand to her forehead, abandoned the open textbook on the desk and jumped up.

“See you later!”

“Yeah, bye” Erin’s mood was considerably sour but Ava barely noticed, she had been so absorbed in her studies as of late. She made a mental note to question Erin about it later but it was no good now, she was already late.

Tom was standing outside in their usual spot, talking with Abraxas Malfoy.

“And then -“ Malfoy cut off mid sentence when he saw Ava emerge from the common room.

“Evening” He nodded at her before glancing at Tom who nodded almost imperceptibly. With that, Malfoy walked past Ava into the common room without a second glance.

“What was Malfoy talking about?” Ava asked curiously, cocking her head as she watched the blonde boy’s robes disappear through the common room door.

“Nothing important” Tom replied. His mouth was set in a firm line, so whatever Malfoy had been talking about obviously wasn’t what Tom had wanted to hear.

“Liar” Ava smirked at him, twirling her wand in her hands and nearly dropping it. Tom glared at her.

“I’m not saying anything” she held her hands up in mock surrender.

“Shall we go then?”

The pair started their patrol, walking the length of the seventh floor corridor in silence. Ava noticed the only break in Tom’s apparent deep thought was when his eyes flashed to a stretch of bare wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. She couldn’t imagine what might have caught his attention there though.

They rounded a corner and descended a staircase, Ava remembering to jump the trick step near the bottom whereas Tom only lengthened his stride in order miss it. Ava inwardly cursed his long legs.

“You know, it’s not that I don’t like your dark, brooding look” Ava broke the silence halfway down the next corridor.

“But is it really such a burden to talk to me?”

“My apologies” Tom murmured, locking his eyes with hers for the first time since they started their walk. The brown in his hazel eyes was particularly pronounced, Ava noticed. Maybe that was due to the rain outside.

Ava lifted a silvery eyebrow, she had seen that expression too many times on him now, it was the one he used when he wanted to get his own way.

“Don’t try that look with me Riddle”

A grin found it’s way onto Tom’s face without his permission. He was stunning. Ava desperately wanted to know what had him so occupied.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked softly, letting some of what she was feeling leak into her voice. She had stopped walking, standing in the middle of the deserted corridor, looking delicate and breakable. Tom stopped walking too.

Her pale blue eyes were filled with some unnamed emotion, her face relaxed and her posture open. She wasn’t hiding from him liked she hid from everyone else, she wasn’t guarded or acting for his benefit. Tom found he liked her better like this.

“I-” he started. Looking down at her wide blue eyes, her face tilted towards his, he felt an inexplicable urge to move closer to her.

The moment was broken as someone came running around the corner. The girl had a scarlet crest on her robes so she must have been from Gryffindor. Tom vaguely recognised her from his Potions class. Her name was Penny? P-

“Polly?!” Ava called, looking worried as the girl skidded to a stop when she saw them.

“Thank goodness I’ve found you” she gasped, leaning forwards to rest her hands on her knees.

“It’s Digby from the year below, he’s been petrified downstairs Ava”

Ava rushed forwards, her carefully composed mask slipping back over her features.

“Where Polly?” She asked, resting her hand on the red-head girl’s back.

“Third floor, Transfiguration corridor”

“Riddle, go and get a teacher” Ava said calmly, putting her arm around a now crying Polly and leading her towards the nearest flight of stairs, presumably to escort her to the hospital wing for a pepper-up potion.

Tom hesitated for a fraction of a second before turning tail and striding to the nearest teacher’s office. Well, the second nearest, the nearest would have been Professor Dumbledore’s on the floor below but there was no way he was going to go running to him.

Ava escorted Polly all the way down to the hospital wing, not even minding that her tears had left a mark on her robes. Her curly red hair was ruffled and she was in such a state that it helped Ava remain calm.

Madame Turnley provided the potion immediately and asked that Polly stay in the hospital wing for a little while until she had calmed down.

“Do you want me to go and find Michael for you?” Ava asked Polly tentatively, knowing how close the twins were.

“N-no it’s okay” Polly hiccoughed, wiping under her eyes with her cuffs.

“I don’t want to bother you any more.”

“It’s really no bother at all” Ava insisted and she wouldn’t hear another word against it, she told Polly she’d be right back and started the walk up to Gryffindor tower. Although not very familiar to her, she vaguely knew where the fat lady was situated.

Butterflies exploded in her stomach when she stepped onto the landing facing the fat lady. Although she was not exactly the bearer of good news, any excuse to see Michael was good in her opinion, she had been so busy with work she had barely seen him since her birthday.

The portrait swung forwards and a little first year leaped out, going to shut the door behind him.

“Hey, excuse me!” Ava called to him, rushing over and tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Would you mind asking Michael Prewett to come out? Tell him it’s Ava”

The first year looked at her bug-eyed for a second before nodding swiftly and sticking his head back inside the portrait hole.

“OI MICHAEL!” She heard him yell. With that he scurried off.

“Make sure you’re back by curfew!” She called after him with a glance at her watch, he only had five minutes before he was sure to get a detention.

When she turned back to the portrait hole, Michael was climbing out of it.

“Hey” he smiled when he saw her, his hand immediately flying to rub the back of his neck.

“Hi” she smiled back, the butterflies seemed to be gaining momentum. Ava decided to jump straight to why she was there before she could start staring at him aimlessly or spouting any nonsense

“Um, Polly’s in the hospital wing, she’s in a bit of shock…” She didn’t really know how to explain so she let her sentence trail off awkwardly. Michael’s happiness quickly evaporated.

“Is she okay? What happened to her?” He demanded, almost accusingly. Ava’s heart sped up and she rushed to defend herself.

“She’s fine, she-she found somebody who had been petrified, Madame Turnley has given her a pepper up potion though so she’ll be okay” she rushed out in a way that was most unlike herself. She usually prided herself on being cool and collected most of the time, especially where boys were concerned.

“Oh right, well, I guess we should go downstairs then?” He asked, seeming embarrassed. Ava nodded and the two of them walked down to the hospital wing. Ava couldn’t think of anything to say, everything seemed too light-hearted considering he was concerned for his twin at the moment.

“I’ll leave you to it” She said quickly at once they reached the doors and left before Michael could respond. She didn’t want to hang around awkwardly anymore.

 

 

“They’re going to need dementors inside the castle at this rate” Alphard said solemnly the next day at breakfast.

“With all of these attacks going on.” Ava shuddered in response.

“I hope not”

News of the attack on James Digby had spread like wildfire. Hardly anybody had seen the boy, as he had been found with only a few minutes to curfew, but the knowledge that it had been Polly Prewett to find him had also spread. Polly didn’t seem to be at breakfast and Ava didn’t blame her, she wouldn’t want to be subjected to a million and one questions about it if it were her either.

“Do you think the dementors would be much use against Slytherin’s monster, Alphard?” Felicia asked anxiously.

“Why are you worried Felicia, you’re a pureblood” Druella commented, digging into her eggs and bacon without concern.

“Do you really think this thing is just aimed at muggleborns?” Alphard asked condescendingly with his eyebrows raised. He pointed his fork at Druella dramatically.

“You mark my words, whatever or whoever it is just wants to hurt people, they’re not going to be choosy about who it is.”

Druella shrugged and continued eating but Felicia looked even more worried than before.

“Just ignore him, he’s just trying to work you up” Erin told her consolingly, patting her shoulder while glaring at Alphard who grinned at her across the table.

Ava remained preoccupied for the rest of the day, her mind constantly flickering to the topic of the chamber of secrets. The whole business made her feel incredibly uneasy, like it was her personal responsibility to do something about it. She knew the teachers would be the ones to catch the culprit but even so, she knew that with her power maybe something could be done. Maybe she could stop the attacks herself. Visions of herself obliterating Slytherin’s monster, of saving the muggleborns of the school filled her minds eye for a moment before she quickly scolded herself. She didn’t have nearly enough control over her power to take on Slytherin’s monster.

That night in the girls dormitories, Ava came back to herself, finally out of her deep reverie about fighting Slytherin’s monster. She realised that Erin had been completely silent since dinner and she appeared to be sulking, cross legged on her bed.

“Hey” Ava called over to her softly, hoping not to draw the attention of the other three who were chatting loudly while they got ready for bed. Erin glanced over at her with a sour look.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been looking sad lately”

“Nice of you to finally notice” Erin sneered and, without giving any response to Ava’s question, she drew the hangings around her bed closed.

Ava gaped at the curtains in shock. Erin had never been so huffy with her, even when she was spaced out. Her desire to know what was upsetting her dark haired friend so much was so strong that the curtains around Erin’s bed twitched as Ava stared at them. She quickly shook herself and pushed the concern deep down. Erin would calm down and tell her tomorrow.

 

Tom was working late in the library for the fifth time that week. He had been reading up on non-verbal spells even though he didn’t need to learn them for another year. He knew that to achieve outstanding on all his O.W.L’s he needed to impress the examiners like nothing they had seen before.

He returned the last book he had borrowed on the subject to its shelf with satisfaction. Not only was he on top of all of his schoolwork, he had mastered non-verbal spells.

A shelf of books above the non-verbal spells section all had the theme of wandless magic. Curiously, Tom plucked a few from the shelf and put them on the desk beside his work. He wondered whether wandless magic could be learned. It seemed a logical next step since he had mastered all forms of non-verbal spell.

He flicked through ‘Perfecting Minor Wandless Magic Over Many Years’ lazily, scanning the complex diagrams and symbols with little interest. His exams were taking up too much of his attention, he’d have to learn all of this next year, after the O.W.L.’s and before the N.E.W.T.’s.

He closed the book again and pushed it sideways, accidentally knocking the rest of the pile off of the desk. He sighed irritatedly and ran a hand through his dark hair, unusually stressed, the intense workload had been taking up a lot of his free time. He was finding it more and more difficult to find time to sneak to the girl’s bathroom on the first floor to open the chamber.

He bent down to retrieve the books, closing the ones the had fallen open, until a name caught his eye. A single name on the inside log page of ‘Born Wandless’.

_Avaline Rochford_

He recognised her loopy writing from the chapter of ‘Secrets of the Darkest Art’ she had translated for him. Tom stared at it, pieces of the puzzle slowly falling into place. Forgetting her wand all the time, treating it so carelessly and not to mention the vampire at Slughorn's party. Feeling an excitement light in his chest, he read the contents of the book and a smile slowly worked its way onto his face. The candle on the desk flickered and his eyes gleamed scarlet.

He had her.


	17. She Makes Broken Look Beautiful

The next day took an age to dawn. At least that’s what it felt like for Tom, who hadn’t slept a wink. Instead, he had stayed awake in an armchair in the common room, the tips of his fingers pressed together as he stared avidly into the empty fireplace and thought. 

Wandless magic could be learned, of course, although it took many years to do so. Rochford had neither the skill nor the discipline to teach herself though, that he was sure of. So she was born this way, much like a natural legillimens. That meant two things, firstly, she was a lot more powerful than he had ever given her credit for and secondly she was obviously stunting that power by forcing herself to use the wand that she carried around the school. 

First things first, he needed proof of what she was capable of. He needed to witness for himself the true extent of her abilities. He had briefly skimmed Born Wandless after he had seen her name on the log page and learned that Wandless witches and wizards were incredibly rare and immensely powerful. So powerful that it was difficult to keep contained. This put into perspective for him the constant need for her to limit her emotions, feelings like anger and frustration were far easier to lose control over. 

Slowly, a plan started to form in his mind’s eye, taking shape as though it was already in place and he had only just discovered it. By the end of the day, he would have his proof. 

 

Ava awoke that morning having slept worse than usual, but she brushed away the dark circles under her eyes and swept her long, white-blonde hair up into a bun on the top of her head simply by waving her hand. 

Considering it was the second day of March, she thought the relentless rain that pounded against the castle windows ought to let up a little to make room for spring. It was hard to stay upbeat when the sky remained doggedly overcast and grey. Still, it wasn’t going to stop her from trying. 

“Good morning everyone” she greeted happily as she took a seat at breakfast. Erin grunted in response, her nose buried in a Charms textbook. 

“Good morning darling” Alphard was the only one to verbally respond, his eyes twinkling at her. 

“You look like you’re up to no good” she commented, grabbing an apple off of a platter from the middle of the table and twirling it in her hands. As she leant over to get it, she caught Riddle’s eye a little way down the table; surrounded by his usual crowd. She cocked an eyebrow at him curiously but he looked away at that exact moment. It was unusual to see him at mealtimes these days. 

“Quidditch game tomorrow, how could you have forgotten?” Alphard asked excitedly. 

“Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff, if Gryffindor lose by more than 30 points then they’re out of the running for the cup!” 

“Right” Ava replied, having lost interest at the word quidditch. 

Alphard rolled his eyes. “You could at least pretend to be excited for my sake.” 

Ava grinned at him, pretending to fan her face, “oh my god, can you believe there’s a quidditch game tomorrow? I can barely contain myself!” 

“Cute” Alphard commented. Felicia threw Ava a filthy look and so - surprisingly - did Erin. Ava could understand Felicia’s problem with her and Alphard’s flirting but Erin? 

The pieces started to fall together in her brain and her mouth popped open in shock as she stared at her. 

“What?” Erin asked, subconsciously reaching up to wipe her cheek. 

“Is there something on my face?” 

“I think we need to get to Charms early darling” Ava said hurriedly, already scooping her bag from under the table and beginning to stand. 

“No we don’t?” Erin replied looking so confused that she seemed to forget to act as moody as she had been over the last few days. 

“Yeah we definitely do.” Ava said firmly, giving Erin a look that plainly said or else. 

“Oh right yeah” Erin pretended to catch on and picked up her own bag. The two girls walked out of the hall in silence, Erin sending Ava increasingly confused looks the further they got. 

“So why do we need to get to Charms early?” She asked eventually, having smoothed her neat bun down about eight times out of nervousness. It was incredibly un-Erin like. 

“When were you planning on telling me you had a thing for Alphard?” Ava asked, thinking it best not to beat around the bush. Erin scowled at her. 

“I do not have a thing for Alphard” she spat through gritted teeth. 

“Yeah right and I am running for Minister of Magic” Ava teased, a smirk taking over her face. 

“Come off it Ava” Erin grumbled, lengthening her stride so it was more difficult for Ava’s smaller legs to keep up.

“Erin when have I ever judged you based on which boy you like?” 

“I don’t like him!” Erin all but shouted, flinging around to face her and looking ready to wring her best friend’s neck. Ava stopped and held up her hands, a little alarmed by how violently against the idea Erin was. 

“Alright, alright” she backed down, trying to soothe Erin’s temper. 

The look of alarm in Ava’s eyes seemed to change Erin’s demeanour like a switch had been flipped. She suddenly deflated, looking sad and dejected. 

“It’s just-“ she started, her voice cracking. “Can we talk about it later?” She asked quietly. 

“Of course we can” Ava said softly, stepping forwards and wrapping the taller girl up in a hug. Erin nodded and sniffed before forcing a smile onto her face. 

“We might as well go to charms early now you know, I could use some extra revision time.” 

That day seemed to go on for months. Ava couldn’t remember ever being so impatient for lessons to end or dinner to be over so that she could talk to her best friend. Time seemed to be holding something against her though, by the time Ancient Runes came around just after lunch she could have sworn it should have been dinner time. 

Her tense mood didn’t go unnoticed at the desk that the class shared. Alphard kept gently running his fingers over the back of her hand in an attempt to get her to relax while they worked but if anything it made the situation worse. Ava didn’t particularly want to be around Alphard until she found out what was going on with Erin, being around him suddenly felt like a kind of betrayal. 

Riddle was also tense on her other side. He seemed to be taking extra special care not to touch her today which was intriguing, the small part of her attention that wasn’t preoccupied with the time was piqued. 

Curiously, when reaching forwards to dip her quill into the ink pot, she let her arm brush against the side of his just to see his reaction. His head snapped up to look at her but she feigned being deep in concentration on the work they were doing. She felt his eyes on her for a full ten seconds before he slowly looked back down at his work but his quill didn’t resume scratching out translations. 

Ava didn’t know why, but she was suddenly fighting a very strong urge to grin. 

“Are you alright sweetheart?” Alphard asked her at the end of class while they were packing away their things. 

“Fine, got a free period now and I’m meeting Lachlan in the library. See you later!” She barely looked at his concerned grey eyes before she pelted out of the room. She slowed down a couple of corridors away and sighed, running a hand over her face. She really couldn’t be wait to be in the know about what was going on. Ava hated being on the outs with Alphard. 

She hadn’t been lying when she said she had to meet Lachlan in the library and spotted his sandy hair by the doors when she approached. 

“Hey you” he said, holding open the door for both of them to enter. 

“Thanks” Ava said smiling at him.

They found a place to work and spent most of the hour either in silence or quietly asking each other questions about the work. The benefit of having Lachlan as a friend was he seemed to understand everything effortlessly and didn’t mind sharing notes - one of his Ravenclaw qualities coming through. However he never applied himself which was the only reason he didn’t do better than Ava in most of their subjects. 

When the hour was up Ava was out the door just as the bell rang. She left Lachlan in the library packing up his things while she sped ahead to dinner, desperate to shovel down some food and finally getting to talk to Erin. 

Erin seemed to take her sweet time finishing a chocolate mousse while Ava pretended to smile and chatted to the others at the table, even though she had finished twenty minutes ago. 

At long last Erin sighed and stood up, Ava right on her tail. They bade their farewells to everyone at the table and walked together to the common room. 

“Alright, spill” Ava demanded as soon at they were in the confines of their dormitory. Erin flung herself down on her bed with the arms covering her face. She mumbled something unintelligible. 

“What?” 

“I said, Alphard kissed me.” Erin confessed, still half covering her face with her arms. Ava’s jaw dropped. The pair were always bickering! Sure she’d thought maybe there was some unexpressed tension but Erin was always so adamant that Alphard wasn’t her type. 

“When did this happen exactly?” Ava asked, trying for Erin’s sake to make it sound like this development wasn’t a big deal. 

“Last week.” Erin mumbled before sitting up. 

“We were the last two in the common room and he made a joke about Sean and I made a joke about Felicia and the next thing I know we’re snogging on the sofa!” Erin tugged at her dark hair, pulling it out of it’s usual bun and letting the long tresses cascade down her shoulders. 

“I don’t know what I was thinking! I don’t even like him that way!” She moaned, running her fingers through her newly freed hair in agitation. 

“It’s not that bad” Ava consoled her, sitting next to her on the bed and wrapping an arm around Erin’s shoulders. 

“If you don’t like him then there’s no harm done right? You’ve kissed plenty of boys before, you can just go right back to normal” 

Erin sighed and leaned her head on Ava’s shoulder. 

“It’s just, when I see him with Felicia or-or you…” she trailed off for a moment, “I just get so irrationally angry, like I have some claim or something over him” 

“Have you considered that maybe you do like him?” Ava asked softly, smoothing Erin’s hair. 

“The day I like Alphard Black is the day hell freezes over” Erin hissed, glowering at the floor. 

“He’s really not that bad” Ava chuckled, amused by her friend’s adamant denial of the truth. 

“He’s good looking, funny, sweet…” 

“And a Black.” Erin supplied unhelpfully, sitting back up and stretching. 

“Which means completely and totally off limits. I’m not giving my parents the bloody satisfaction.” 

Ava could tell Erin was ready to drop the subject and nodded, not giving any more opinions on the subject. She leaned back on Erin’s pillows and said, 

“So quidditch tomorrow huh?”

 

The quidditch game next day was everything Ava expected, windy and boring. She let Lachlan drone on about the ins and outs of the game the whole time the pair of them sat in the library after lunch. The game had barely lasted half an hour that morning - the one good thing that could be said about it. The Gryffindor seeker had caught the snitch in an incredible amount of time. 

“Well I’m done” She said, cutting across Lachlan’s fourth verbal replay of Hufflepuff’s defeat. She closed her books and put her freshly finished Transfiguration essay into her bag. 

“What? How have you finished already?” Lachlan asked, horrified as he stared down at the title written on his own - otherwise blank - parchment. 

“It’s amazing what you can do when you’re not thinking about quidditch Lach-y” she teased, ruffling his sandy hair as she stood up. 

“Yeah well.” Lachlan huffed, folding his arms. 

“See you at dinner” She called back over her shoulder to him, walking out of the library and thinking that she might as well take a nap before attempting any more work for the day, she was basically on top of everything anyway. 

 

Dinner rolled around and the great hall was unusually subdued, considering that it was packed with students. Ava got the distinct impression that she was missing something, especially when she noticed people getting up from their tables to whisper to their friends in other houses. 

“What’s going on?” She asked, as she sat down next to Erin, her eyes fixed on a plate of lamb. 

“Haven’t you heard?” Felicia half whispered to her, her eyes wide. 

“I’ve been sleeping” Ava said, pulling the lamb towards her and looking up at Felicia. 

“What is it?” 

“There was another attack earlier, outside the library.” 

Ava dropped the fork she was holding. 

“What?” She gasped. “In broad daylight?” 

“Yep.” Felicia nodded sombrely. Alphard patted Felicia’s hand and Ava spotted Erin’s cheeks flushing. 

“Excuse me.” A member of the Ravenclaw quidditch team was hovering awkwardly behind Cecilia. 

“Yes?” Erin asked rather rudely before Ava nudged her in the ribs. 

“Can I talk to the both of you?” He asked hurriedly, looking pointedly at Erin and Ava. They exchanged a curious look before nodding and following him out into the entrance hall. 

“I-I had to tell you” the boy began, rubbing the back of his neck and looking distressed, “because of how close you guys are, and well-“ 

“Spit it out” Erin snapped, but Ava could hear the fear lacing her tone. She gripped her best friend’s elbow tightly. 

“The attack everyone’s talking about, it was Lachlan” he hurried the words out, staring at the floor. 

Erin clapped a hand to her mouth and gripped onto Ava’s hand painfully tight. 

“Are you- are you sure?” She whispered, her dark brown eyes glassy and they filled with tears. 

He nodded. Ava felt Erin’s knees give as she started to sob so she slid an arm around her to keep her steady. 

“Thank you for telling us” Ava said softly. The boy nodded and walked back into the hall. 

“Shh” She cooed Erin, who was hunched over with tears pouring down her face. 

“Lachlan, Lachlan’s been petrified” she kept saying. 

“I know” Ava hushed her best friend, rubbing her back slowly. 

Ava felt numb. Like her heart had frozen over. Lachlan couldn’t have been attacked, he simply couldn’t have. She had seen him in the library just after lunch. He was laughing and happy like he always was. 

She didn’t take Erin back into the hall where everyone could see her cry, she guided her down the stairs from the entrance hall towards the dungeons. Erin was sobbing too hard to put up any kind of resistance and eventually Ava managed to get her settled on a sofa. Words failed her. She had no idea what she could do or say. Lachlan, their lovable Scot couldn’t have been attacked. There had to have been some kind of mistake. 

She had to see for herself. 

Thankfully, Alphard came bursting into the common room the exact moment Ava’s mind was made up. They shared a look before Alphard sank down next to Erin on the sofa and gathered her up in his arms. The shard of ice that seemed to have pierced Ava’s heart didn’t allow her to feel anything at this sight. 

She left the common room, strode up the marble stairs of the entrance hall and power walked to the hospital wing. It simply couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be. 

Ava felt a pounding ache inside of her temples as she walked. As long as she believed it wasn’t true, it wouldn’t be. 

She got to the doors of the infirmary and threw them open, not caring who might have been on the other side. She needed to see. 

On the closest bed to the door, Lachlan lay motionless, one of his hands outstretched in front of him and his face twisted into an expression of horror. Slowly, Ava approached him, looking from his sandy hair down to his scruffy shoes. It was him. His soft brown eyes were unseeing and blank. She touched her hand to his and flinched away at its coldness. It was as if he were carved from marble. 

Just as suddenly as she resolved to see him, she realised she couldn't see any more, she tore out of the hospital wing and up a flight of stairs, unsure exactly of where she was going but knowing she needed to get away. She flung herself into an empty classroom breathing heavily. Her heart was racing and it felt like a dead weight had settled in her stomach.

If she had stayed with him at the library, maybe he wouldn't be- maybe he'd be okay. She could have protected both of them, she could have saved him from this. Her brain seemed to be pounding violently on the inside of her skull, it was her fault, all her fault. 

Ava broke. 

With a scream of frustration, the chairs and tables around her went skidding backwards with incredible force. A vicious wind picked up out of thin air and sent her hair and robes flying wildly around her. Everything inside of her was breaking. 

 

Tom had been waiting patiently outside the hospital wing for hours. His patience was infinite for this moment, he knew what would come eventually. 

Sure enough, just after dinner had started, white-blonde hair came into view. A furious glint was in Rochford’s eyes as she stalked straight past him to the doors to the hospital wing. Denial, that was understandable. She needed proof, just like he needed his. 

Next he had to all but chase her through the castle, finally coming to a stop just outside the door of the classroom she had thrown herself into. Tom took a deep breath. This was the moment he had been waiting for. Slowly, he pulled the door open so that he could see in. 

He had done it, he had broken Ava Rochford. Tom’s eyes were wide as he watched her destroy everything in her path. She obliterated tables, sent deep cracks running through the stone walls, smashed the teachers desk so violently into the chalkboard that it broke in two - all with one look. All the while looking like she was caught in the middle of her own personal storm, screaming and crying. She was magnificent. 

He stepped into the room in time to see the high arched windows shatter, showering the floor with glass. 

Ava spun around at the sound of his footsteps, her eyes wild, her cheeks tearstained and her arms wrapped around herself, trying to hold herself together. Tom held up his hands in a surrendering gesture, approaching her slowly so that she wouldn’t attack him. He had expected her to be powerful but nothing had prepared him for this, she was a weapon of mass destruction.  
As he walked closer he could feel the strength and iciness of the wind she had created, he could sense the immense power practically humming in the air around them. 

“It’s okay” he soothed insincerely, watching as her erratic breathing shook her entire frame. 

“It’s okay” he repeated, touching her gently on the shoulder. Ava’s light blue eyes stared into his dark hazel ones and the wind calmed; her breathing becoming more regular. 

Ava felt like her head had been stuffed full of cotton wool she was so numb and unfeeling. She leaned her head forwards and rested it on Tom’s shoulder, crying into it with abandon, not having enough left in her to feel embarrassed. 

 

He had his proof. Plans started to come to life in his brain - he could see it - with Ava Rochford at his disposal he would be an unstoppable force. Her power was the perfect untapped weapon; his key to ensure success. Recruiting her to his cause was not a question - she would join. He could not risk having her kind of power opposing him. He knew that one day, it would likely come to war between his cause and the rest of the wizarding community. When that day came he needed to be prepared for anything. If not now then one day Rochford would be forced to choose a side and now that he was aware of the threat she posed he had control of the situation.

He would become the greatest sorcerer in the world and she was the tool he needed to break all those who would come to oppose him.


	18. Dancing With A Wolf

Ava spent much of the next day doing everything in her power to avoid Tom Riddle. This was no easy task and by the time Ancient Runes came around she decided to do something she had never done before. 

She pretended to feel ill and took herself to the hospital wing. It was easy enough to do, seeing Lachlan on the bed by the door brought fresh tears to her eyes and then all she had to do was clutch her stomach. The matron believed her even though she couldn’t find any source of Ava’s pain - one of the benefits of being a model, trustworthy student. 

In the end Madame Turnley tucked her into a bed in the furthest corner from Lachlan, insisting she stay there for the rest of the day as she suspecting Ava was suffering from a bad case of shock; probably over Lachlan’s attack. Ava let her fuss and sank back into the bed, still mentally and emotionally exhausted from the day before. Her eyes were still sore and puffy from crying and she let them slide closed with a sigh of relief. 

Ava woke up to see a pair of hazel eyes watching her closely. The very last pair of eyes she wanted to see. She sat bolt upright and looked around for Madame Turnley desperately, but the nurse was no where in sight. 

“What are you doing here?” She asked sharply, trying her best to avoid looking at the dark haired boy who was sat in the chair next to her bed. 

“Your friends were concerned about you. You haven’t eaten today” he said matter-of-factly. He pushed a plate of food onto her lap. 

“They were going to come and give you this. I volunteered to bring it since we have patrol.”

Ava looked at the food on her lap and her mouth watered. Erin or Alphard had obviously piled it with her favourite things. She pressed her fingers surreptitiously into her stomach to stop it from growling hungrily and looked back up at Tom. 

“Thank you but I’m fine” she gently lifted the plate onto the bedside table and swallowed heavily. 

She was ravenous but she just couldn't bring herself to eat in front of him. She felt exposed in the worst way possible under his perceptive, dark gaze. He knew more about her than she had ever allowed anyone to know before - and what was worse was that she hadn't even invited him to share her secret, he had just forced himself in on it during her worst moment.

Tom raised an eyebrow at her emotionless expression because, although a hurricane of anxiety and panic whirled through her mind, Ava Rochford was nothing if not skilled at her art. He looked from the plate on the side to her pallid complexion. 

“You really should eat you know” he stretched his legs in front of him. 

“If we’re going to do patrol in ten minutes.” 

“I can’t do patrol” Ava said quickly, scrunching up the bedsheets in her hands. 

“I’m ill.”

A smirk crossed Tom’s features before he could control it. 

“The matron seems to think you should have made a full recovery by now.” 

“Well she’s wrong” Ava snapped, a little colour rising in her cheeks. Unfortunately her stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. Tom’s eyebrows shot up and Ava hated the knowing expression on his face. Grudgingly she picked up a Yorkshire pudding and nibbled on it. 

“Rochford, if this is about yesterday-“ Tom began, knowing full well that was the reason she was acting so strangely and trying hard not to look like the cat who got the canary. 

“If you could just forget what you saw yesterday that would be fantastic.” Ava said softly, she meant to say it firmly but it had come out as more of a plea against her will. 

“Aren’t you the one who was so insistent on this concept of friendship,” the word left a sour taste in Tom’s mouth and he suppressed a grimace. 

“Why don’t you trust me with this?” 

Ava bit her lip and avoided his eyes. 

“I’m not supposed to tell anybody” she answered even more quietly than before. 

“Well then, we’ll just have to keep it between us” Tom said, getting to his feet and carefully assessing the situation before offering her a hand to help her out of the hospital bed. Ava stared at his outstretched hand for a second, wondering if he had finally lost his mind, before pushing the covers back and taking it gently. It was startlingly cold compared to her own. 

She released it once she was on her feet and slipped her shoes back on. 

“I should probably tell Madame Turnley I’m leaving” she remembered suddenly, looking around again towards the matron’s office. 

“She knows that I came to get you for patrol” Tom said calmly, stepping away from her to reinstate their personal spaces. 

“You might as well leave the food now, it’s probably cold. We’ll stop by the kitchens on the way.”

He was working very hard to keep her sweet. He needed her to put her trust in him and preferably only him. The more dependent she was, the more power he would attain over her. If that meant playing the part of a concerned friend then it was a worthy cause. 

They started their usual route through the castle, starting from the hospital wing doors rather than trekking down to the Slytherin common room, and Ava offered no conversation. Tom felt rather like he was walking on egg shells; how best to get the information he desired, how to not frighten her off. 

“Tell me about it” He encouraged delicately, looking down at the top of her silvery-blonde head and trying to catch a glimpse of her expression.

“What do you want to know?” Ava asked, chewing on her lower lip as she avoided his gaze. She had never really spoken to anyone about it particularly in depth so she didn’t know what he was expecting. 

“Why do you hide your…” he pondered the right word, “abilities?” 

Ava shrugged half-heartedly. 

“Dippet doesn’t want me putting other students at risk.” 

“Risk?” He repeated sharply. Ava glanced up quickly and he cleared his intense expression into one of polite interest. 

“My kind of magic is - well it is kind of volatile” she explained, twisting her fingers together nervously. 

“It’s heavily influenced by things like my mood and emotions. Dippet’s afraid that if I don’t try and limit myself, people around me could start getting hurt.” She didn’t look at him once as she said this. She didn’t want him to start avoiding her because he thought she was dangerous.

There was a pause. 

“I think that limiting you is a mistake” Tom said slowly, weighing the words carefully and watching for her reaction. For once, he was not disappointed. Her head shot up and her eyes met his in shock. 

“How are you to learn to exert full control if you have to limit yourself?” He continued, holding her cerulean gaze for as long as he could before she looked away. 

“I’m usually very controlled. Yesterday was…” She trailed off, she couldn’t really explain what had happened the day before. She had lost it, everything she had kept below the surface had come rushing out of every pore. 

“Regardless,” Tom went on, opting to change tact, “You can’t possibly be using the full extent of your power this way. Have you ever tested yourself?” 

Ava shook her head and wrung her hands together even more. Truth be told after her breakdown she was a little afraid of her full potential. She had never caused mass destruction like that even when she was younger and a lot less practised at control. 

“I-I’m afraid that if I try to push myself I’ll lose control.” She admitted, once again avoiding his dark eyes. She briefly skimmed over his other features, his straight nose, striking jawline, high cheekbones and swallowed before facing forwards again. 

They rounded a corner and went down a flight of stairs in silence. They were approaching the common room now, probably only a couple of corridors away at most. 

“If you wanted help, wanted to practice I mean-“ Tom deliberately drew her in with a layer of false sincerity in his voice. “I would be more than happy to help.” 

“Really?” Ava asked, fully convinced that the direction of this conversation was headed towards Tom being afraid to be near her ever again. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him dead on for the first time since they started walking. 

“Why?” 

“You’re quite a fascinating study.” Tom replied after only a moment of hesitation. Flattery had always worked wonders for him in the past. Sure enough, a blush started to rise in Ava’s cheeks. 

“Oh.” She replied and started walking again. 

“Besides,” Tom added, giving her the charming smile that he reserved for last-ditch attempts, “What are friends for?” 

 

It became obvious over the next week that Muggleborns had started moving around the school in packs, the younger ones especially, and Ava noticed many of them flinch whenever any Slytherins past them. 

Students with superstitious parents had been spreading rumours of the ‘heir of Slytherin’ who - it was claimed - was the only person apart from Salazar Slytherin himself who could open the chamber and control whatever monster was behind all of the attacks. 

As a result of this, other students had been avoiding the Slytherins in the corridors and in lessons: a few even changed seats in class so that they weren’t sat next to Slytherins anymore. 

Ava, who was sick of her house being treated in such a way, caught Slughorn after a potions lesson one day. 

“Sir, can I ask you something?” She asked, going up to his desk while the rest of the class filed out of the room behind her. 

“Yes Ava m’dear?” Slughorn answered jovially looking as always, thrilled to see her. She smiled sheepishly. 

“I was just wondering, is there any truth to this heir of Slytherin stuff? I keep hearing people mentoring it and I knew if anyone would know about it, you would.” 

She threw in some flattery to keep him sweet and she could tell in had done its job by the way his eyes twinkled. 

“My dear girl, I do hope you haven’t been buying into any of those nasty rumours” Slughorn wagged a finger at her. 

“No Sir, it’s just, I suppose I wondered where the whole thing started.” 

“Well” Slughorn looked thoughtful as he sat back in his teacher’s chair and stroked his moustache with one fat finger. 

“The story goes that Salazar Slytherin got into a bit of a disagreement with the other founders about the sort of students who should be admitted to the school.” 

Ava nodded, encouraging him to continue. 

“Needless to say, he believed only those of ‘pure blood’ should be allowed to study magic. The other founders disagreed and eventually Slytherin felt it necessary to leave the school. However, before he left he claimed to have built a chamber somewhere in the school that contained a monster to eradicate those he deemed unworthy to study magic.” 

“And all this about the heir of Slytherin?” Ava asked. Slughorn stroked his moustache again. 

“Yes well, Slytherin also claimed that the only person who would be able to find and open the chamber would be his own true heir.” 

Ava frowned. She had hoped that the rumours would be just that - rumours. She didn’t like to think that someone in Slytherin could be the culprit. 

“But don’t fret my dear, the person committing these atrocities is hiding behind this myth as a way of masking their identity.” Slughorn patted her shoulder comfortingly. Ava nodded and wandered out of the classroom, still deep in thought. 

There were a few bad eggs in Slytherin sure, Cepheus Lestrange was the first to come to mind. But she couldn’t think of anyone she knew who was capable of mindlessly attacking people. Maybe Slughorn was right and someone was just using the heir of Slytherin myth to throw off suspicion. 

 

“Darling I think we need to talk.” Alphard caught her alone in the common room that night, poring over an Ancient Runes textbook. 

“Okay?” She asked bemusedly, taking the hand he offered her and letting him lead her out into the corridor. They walked until they reached a bench that was partially concealed in an alcove. It was usually reserved for kissing couples but it was free just then. Alphard kept hold of her hand as they sat down. 

“Well- we’re all a bit worried about you.” He said gently, tracing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb and looking down at that rather than into her eyes. Ava cocked her head at him, finding his expression hard to read in the shadows of the alcove. 

“Why?” She asked, her eyebrows furrowing. 

Alphard looked up at her as though he was surprised she didn’t know. 

“We barely see you Ava. You’re gone before anyone gets up and don’t come back until they’re all in bed. At least that’s what Erin thinks, for all we know, you haven't even been sleeping in your dormitory.” 

“I have been sleeping in my dormitory” Ava responded indignantly, she was miffed but didn’t take her hand away from Alphard’s. She had missed the contact over the last week, they were usually incredibly close. 

“I don’t even remember the last time I saw you at dinner.” 

“I’ve been studying hard.” Ava said, fixing him with a challenging look. 

“I’ve been grabbing dinner from the kitchens before bed.” 

Alphard sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“You look so tired.” He said, sounding vaguely defeated as he traced a finger delicately under her eye. 

“I need to pass my exams Alphie” Ava said quietly, closing her eyes and leaning into his hand a little. 

“Those aren’t the only reasons we’re worried love” he said after a second of hesitation. Ava opened her eyes and looked into his brown ones. 

“Oh?” 

“I’ve noticed you haven’t shut everyone out.” He said slowly, trying not to upset her. He failed. 

“This is about Tom” she scowled. It was true that they studied together in the library everyday. Most days they didn’t even talk about her Wandless abilities but sometimes they’d find their way to a deserted classroom a little before curfew so she could practice under his close inspection.

She wasn’t sure why, but she trusted Tom completely. He hadn’t breathed a word of her secret to anyone and never looked at her any different to how he had always looked at her. She found it a great relief to be around someone that she didn’t have to keep herself under control for. His intense gaze always helped draw herself back when things started to get crazy. 

“He’s bad news darling” Alphard said imploringly. 

“I mean look at who his friends are, they’re all from dark families. Not to mention he seems to have a great deal of control over all of them.” 

Ava narrowed her eyes at Alphard. 

“I don’t think that’s really your place to say Black.” Alphard flinched. 

“Alright.” He flipped her hand over and started to trace patterns on her palm. 

“I didn’t bring you here to fight. I just want to know that you’re okay. That you haven’t forgotten little old me.” He grinned at her half heartedly. 

“Of course I haven’t” Ava replied softly, pulling him into a hug. Alphard gave into the hug immediately, tucking her head under his chin. 

“I love you Alphie” She said, squeezing him around the middle. Alphard chuckled and kissed the top of her head. 

“It’s almost curfew Black” A velvety voice interrupted their moment. 

They pulled apart to see Riddle leaning against the entrance the the alcove with his eyebrows raised. A scowl overtook Alphard’s features and Ava thought she heard him mutter something like; “of course you’re here.” 

“You don’t want to get in trouble do you?” Tom asked, tilting his head in a subtly threatening way that told Ava that he hadn’t missed what Alphard had said. 

Alphard rolled his eyes and took Ava’s hand again, pulling her up. 

“Of course not” he replied sarcastically, tugging Ava along with him past Tom to the common room. Ava shot Tom a half apologetic look before allowing Alphard to escort her back. 

 

Ava was studying - as usual - in the library during her free period. She was confident that the essay she had just finished referencing was worthy of at least an Exceeds Expectations - maybe even an Outstanding. 

When the lunch bell rang she made no effort to move but instead doodled on a spare piece of parchment while she waited. Sure enough, Tom came into the library only a few minutes later and joined her at the table. 

“You’ve finished the transfiguration essay?” He glanced down at the title on her parchment. 

“Yes.” Ava responded without looking up. She knew he was impressed or he wouldn’t have asked.

“What did Black want yesterday?” Tom asked, unpacking his things so that he could get started on the same essay. Things the past week had not been going the way he had hoped. Yes, he had Rochford nearly entirely to himself, but he had not seen anything from her like that first night. He wasn’t sure if she was holding herself back, if she was embarrassed, he just knew that he needed to keep pushing her. 

Ava smirked a little and pulled all of her hair over one shoulder so she could see him better. 

“He was worried that you’re stealing me away from him.” She twisted the truth a little, trying to get a reaction from her flirting. She was disappointed, as she so often was with Tom. 

Tom ‘hmm’-ed thoughtfully and dipped the quill he was holding into his ink pot. 

“And why does he think that?” His expression was perfectly composed and his attention was largely on whatever he was writing. Ava sighed and recrossed her legs, flirting with Tom Riddle was truly pointless. 

“Apparently you’re the only person I talk to these days.” She summarised the point of Alphard’s conversation. 

Tom raised an eyebrow but didn’t verbally respond or look up. Ava took the opportunity to shamelessly examine his face for a second. Her eyes lingered on his razor sharp cheekbones and jaw, darted across his straight nose and drifted down towards his pursed lips. 

Quickly she looked away and stared at the nearest bookcase, feeling herself flush. If he had looked up she would have been mortified. Tom was her friend and he had never shown any interest in her. Her ego wouldn’t allow her to walk down that particular garden path. 

“Maybe you should go to lunch, let them know that I’m not holding you here against your will.” 

Ava’s eyes shot back to him, he still hadn’t lifted his gaze from his work but his mouth was settled in a lazy grin. 

“Was that a joke Riddle?” Ava asked, feeling a smile take over her own features in return. He didn’t reply and she let out a short laugh, shaking her head and pushing her silvery hair back. 

“And here I thought you were made of stone.” 

She sighed and bit her lip. 

“You’re probably right though. I just thought we could do some practising today?” She hadn’t brought it up as soon as he arrived because she knew he wanted to make a start on his essay. Truthfully she had been feeling an itch under her skin all day, a crackling feeling that she was dying to let loose. 

Tom stopped writing and surveyed her hopeful expression. Today could be it. 

“Actually, I had a suggestion about that.” He said, putting down his quill. 

“I think you need to push yourself, to test your limits” he encouraged, Ava looked at him apprehensively. 

“What do you suggest?” 

“I don’t know. I’ll do some research. I’ll meet you in the common room this evening?” He had a vague idea of what book he was going to need, unfortunately it was in the restricted section but the librarian was usually hospitable enough. At least for him. 

“Sounds good.” Ava nodded. A ball of nerves had fired up in her stomach, she didn’t want to lose control and put Tom at risk but she also didn’t want to disappoint him. 

“Excellent.” Tom picked up his quill again and continued writing. 

“Now go and see your friends.”


	19. Time Waits for No Man

Ava was subdued during dinner and only picked at her plate, her mind was further forwards, thinking about the kind of magic Tom was expecting her to do. She caught Lestrange’s eye a little way down the table and he hastily avoided looking at her. This was the usual now though. 

“I really hope they get rid of the dementors outside the gates soon.” Druella commented as she dig into a steak and kidney pudding. 

“Going past them every Hogsmeade weekend is horrible.” 

“They’re here to protect us Dru,” Felicia replied softly, barely looking up from her plate. That might have had something to do with the fact that Alphard and Erin were eyeing each other more hungrily than they were eyeing their dinner. 

“I haven’t been on a Hogsmeade trip since they were stationed” Ava cut in, surprising even herself at her addition to the conversation. If the others were surprised too, they didn’t show it. 

“Oh it’s awful Ava.” Druella shuddered, 

“It’s like just being near them freezes the air, and they make you think and remember the most horrid things.” She shook her head and took a big bite of potatoes. 

“Are you going to go to the next Hogsmeade trip Ave?” Erin asked, tearing her eyes from Alphard’s to look at her blonde friend. 

Ava pursed her lips and thought. She hadn’t been to Hogsmeade all year, she hadn’t needed anything and she’d been too busy working to really think about it. 

“Yeah I think I will, when is it?” 

“Weekend after next.” Erin smiled softly at her and Ava smiled back. She made a mental note to grill Erin about her relationship with Alphard when she got back to the dormitory that night. Despite it having been only a week since Ava stopped coming to most mealtimes, she felt incredibly estranged from her best friend. 

The group all devoured their way through dessert and walked back down to the Slytherin common room together. Ava couldn’t help but notice the tension in the group. Erin and Alphard were ahead of everyone and Cecilia and Felicia brought up the rear; seemingly making an active effort to distance themselves from the pair at the front. Druella and Ava hovered in the middle quietly, ignoring both the harsh whispers behind them and the open flirting in front. 

Ava frowned for the whole walk. She didn’t like it when things were tense in their group, everyone usually got along so well. Deep down she knew the source of the tension was Alphard’s shameless flirting with Felicia before Christmas before he suddenly changed his tune, but she couldn’t bring herself to blame him. If anything, she quietly blamed Felicia for expecting so much of him. 

The moment the group entered the common room, Ava’s eyes were scanning for Tom. She saw him at a desk on the far side of the room looking quite relaxed. Without a word to the others she propelled herself over to sit across from him at the table. 

“How was dinner?” He asked, clasping his hands together in front of him. 

“It was fine.” She answered shortly, tossing her long hair over her shoulder and fixing him with a look that told him she was waiting for what he had to say. A fire seemed to ignite behind his eyes and he flipped a book open from a pile he had stacked on the desk. 

With more fervour than she had ever seen in him before he pushed the open book in front of her, pointed at the title and stared at her face intently while she read. 

It was a spell that took up both pages in minuscule writing and complex diagrams of wand movements. 

_‘The Hour Reversal Spell_

_Requiring an uncommon level of magical skill, the hour reversal spell can reverse time up to five hours from the time of casting. This spell can be used by an individual or individualswithin close proximity but it is more potent and powerful if placed upon a time-turner, which can reverse time by up to twelve hours. Casting the spell on a time turner stabilises the magical properties of the spell which is recommended as it is highly unstable when used to send the caster back in time.’_

The rest of the page went on to elaborate the mental preparation required for the spell, the long, complex method of the actual spell casting and cautions about tampering with time. 

“You’re not serious” Ava whispered fiercely, shoving the book back at him. 

“I am” he grinned back at her, excitement colouring his normally pallid cheeks. 

“That is seriously dangerous magic” she hissed back, folding her arms and slouching in down in her seat. 

“It’ll be a pivotal test of your power” he insisted, leaning forwards on his elbows and tapping the book between them. 

“If you can succeed at this, then we’ll know exactly how strong you are. If you don’t, then we’ll know your limits” 

Ava bristled indignantly at the implication that she might not succeed and grabbed the book again. She had never come across anything that she couldn’t achieve magically and her pride was already wounded that Riddle thought that she might not manage it. For some inexplicable reason she wanted to prove him wrong. 

She slowly raked her eyes over the complicated diagrams, understanding of the spell knitting together in her brain tiny piece by tiny piece. 

“Even if I was willing to try it” she said after a few minutes of silence as she read, “when did you have in mind?” 

“Well, I was rather hoping you would attempt it tonight.” Tom said, tilting his head as he observed her reaction. Ava looked down hopelessly at the book and back up at his hazel eyes. 

“I don’t know how you expect me to get a grip on this in a matter of hours.” 

“I know somewhere that’ll help you think.” He said softly, leaning forwards on his elbows again to trap her in his gaze. Ava bit her lip in worry before nodding. 

“Alright, but if we get caught out of bed I am throwing you under the bus Riddle.” 

Tom smirked and stood up, offering her a hand. Ava took it and followed Tom’s lead out of the common room, the thick book containing the spell tucked under her arm. 

Although they wouldn’t be breaking curfew for another half hour, the pair of them walked almost silently and surreptitiously looked up and down each hallway in case a teacher came into sight. 

It was as they climbed their fifth staircase that a sudden realisation hit Ava. They were walking out in the open, almost past curfew when all the teachers would have retired for the night. If they were attacked, there would be no one around to save them. She stopped walking and tugged on Tom’s elbow. 

“Tom, I’m not sure we should be sneaking around like this with… everything happening” She didn’t want to mention the attacks aloud.

Tom was surprised by her sudden fear but had to fight a smirk, as if he would be in any danger. How little she knew. 

“Rochford, we’re two of the best students in this school. I think we can handle ourselves.” He raised an eyebrow at her and she gulped but nodded. Her large blue eyes gave away her fear but he chose not to dwell on it. As long as she went along with him, it didn’t matter how she was feeling. 

They reached the seventh floor quickly after that and Tom lead her down the corridor that held the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy teaching trolls to dance. 

“What are we doing here?” Ava whispered when they stopped, looking around for a door.

Tom held up a finger as an indicator for her to wait and paced up and down in front of a bare stretch of wall, his eyes closed tightly. Ava wondered briefly if he’d been hit with a confundus charm that she’d missed. 

A sudden ‘pop’ startled her and she stepped backwards with a gasp. A door had just appeared in the middle of the wall Tom had been pacing in front of. It was dark mahogany and looked as old as any of the doors at Hogwarts; as though it had been there the whole time. 

Opening the door soundlessly, Tom gestured to Ava to let her go first into the room. She hesitated for only a second before doing so and resisted the urge to gasp again at what she saw. 

The room was spacious and had a large, wide window on the opposite wall. Torches lit the room with a flickering orange light that reflected off of the darkness outside the window. All that could be seen through it was the distant, eerie shape of the moon. 

There were many bookcases in the room also, filled up with a myriad of old and new books, some the size of paving slabs, others no bigger than her palm. A couple of old squashy armchairs sat by the window, leaving a lot of the space open. 

“I thought this would be a good place for you to practice from now on.” Tom’s voice jolted Ava from her examination. 

“It’s wonderful,” she said, walking over to one of the armchairs and sinking down into it, opening the book they had brought with them. 

“How did you find it?” 

Tom shrugged and didn’t reply, taking a seat on the armchair opposite. He was respectfully silent while she studied the Hour Reversal spell. He concentrated on watching her as deeply as Ava concentrated on the book. He had been practising his Legillimency on various unsuspecting students with varying success. Obviously it would be a lot easier with eye contact but he didn’t want her to know what he was doing. It would undoubtedly scare her off and at the moment she was right where he wanted her. 

Silence reigned in the large room for over an hour with neither party making any indication of discomfort. Finally, Ava put down the book, rubbed her temples and stood up. 

“Right,” she said to herself, walking to the middle of the room and rolling her neck. Tom watched her without making any movement himself. He hadn’t been able to breach her mind and he wasn’t sure if she had defences in place or if she was just a particularly difficult read.

“Are you coming?” She asked, looking over at him. He raised his eyebrows. 

“If I’m not touching you then you won’t come back in time with me.” She explained and he nodded before joining her in the centre of the room. 

“Okay then.” She turned so that they were directly facing each other and raised her hands. Rather than holding them, Tom stepped forwards and grasped her elbows instead. 

“In case you fall” he swiftly answered her unasked question. Ava nodded once and let her palms rest on his forearms. Then she cleared her mind as best she could - no easy task when within six inches of Tom Riddle. Taking a deep breath and counting to four, she held the air for a couple of seconds before breathing out just as slowly. She repeated this a couple of times before starting to chant the spell in her head quietly at first and then louder, until she was screaming it inside her own head. 

A pounding feeling started up around her temples and she stopped, opened her eyes and looked around the room. The sky outside was still pitch black and Tom was looking at her closely. 

“I’m not sure what went wrong” she said, blinking hard against the bright light of the torches. 

Tom frowned for a second before contributing his thoughts. 

“Is it possible that you were thinking too hard about the technicalities of the spell? Normally when you use magic I can feel a kind of charge in the air.” 

Ava pondered this. 

“Usually when I use magic though, I feel very strong emotions. The spellbook said I need to clear my mind for the spell to be stable enough not to throw us back randomly in time.”

“That spell was written for an ordinary wizard.” Tom said firmly. Ava felt a blush rising in her cheeks and looked down at his tie to try and hide it. 

“Ready to try again?” 

Ava nodded and closed her eyes, breathing deeply like she had before. She didn’t try and clear her mind that time though, she let everything she was feeling in and wash over her. The feeling of Tom’s hands on her arms and his breath on her face, her sadness at her friendship group falling apart, the despair she felt all the damn time for not being a match for whatever monster was plaguing the school. 

She felt her magic rise in her like tendrils feeling their way upwards. She began chanting the spell much like the first time, quietly and then louder and louder until she was screaming it. 

That time, something seemed to happen. The air around them crackled with energy. The window of the room showed the sky becoming lighter shade by shade and an odd coolness stole over Ava and Tom. Dark blood started to drip from Ava’s nose as she kept her eyes tight shut, still chanting in her mind as power pulsed beneath her skin. 

Finally she stopped and swayed on the spot, Tom’s arms acting as her only support. 

“Did-did it work?” She asked in a small voice, looking up at him and revealing the bloody whites of her eyes. 

“I think so” he answered, trying hard to contain his glee. He released her and walked over to the window to examine the orange sky. 

“It’s just before sunset, we must have gone back about two hours” 

He turned back to see her still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, wiping the blood from under nose and wincing a little at the light in the room. 

“So what do we do now?” Ava asked, walking gingerly over to the armchair she had been sat in before - or the armchair she would sit in later? Who knew. 

Tom stared out of the window and thought with his hands clasped together behind his back. He would be lying if he said he expected Rochford to complete the spell - let alone on her second attempt. She seemed weakened but not so badly that she was out of commission. Interesting. 

 

“We might as well leave the room.” He said after a minute and - not waiting for Ava to catch up - he strode to the door and opened it. Ava hurried after him, still trying to right herself from the aftermath of the spell. She was feeling incredibly dizzy. 

Classes had evidently just ended, as the hallways were packed with students eager to get to dinner. Ava kept her head down and suddenly wished she had more inconspicuous hair. If her past self was supposed to be in the library she didn’t want anyone spotting her here

To her confusion, Tom seemed to be beelining for the library right now. Once again she was forced to wonder about his mental state. 

“Tom if anyone sees us in two places-“ she hissed but he ‘shh’ed her. Ava rolled her eyes indignantly and followed him through the bookcases, stopping one away from where their past selves were sat at a table. 

In the quiet of the library, Ava could hear her own conversation quite clearly. 

“What did Black want yesterday?” The other Tom asked, unpacking his things onto the table. The pair hiding behind the bookcase must have been right on his tail coming in. 

Ava squinted through a gap in the books and saw herself smirk and flip her hair over one shoulder. Her mouth fell open, this was hands down the weirdest situation she had ever been in. 

“Fascinating.” Tom murmured from her right hand side and she glanced up at him. He was watching their conversation with keen interest. 

“He was worried that you’re stealing me away from him.” Ava blushed a little at her past self’s flirting, more embarrassed that none of her comments seemed to touch him. 

“And why does he think that?” She heard back. 

“Tom we need to go” she tugged on his sleeve but Tom ignored her. 

“I’m going to leave the library in a second and walk right past us!” This seemed to snap Tom out of his reverie and he gave a short nod. They walked briskly back out of the library with their heads down. 

They found themselves at the top of a staircase when suddenly someone barged past them, sending Ava flying sideways into the wall. 

“Sorry’” a gruff voice said, without stopping on their journey. The enormous figure bounded down the flight of stairs and another one in a couple of seconds, they seemed to be clutching a bucket full of something. 

“Are you alright?” Tom asked Ava courteously as she dragged her fingertips across her aching temples. 

“Fine, thanks,” Ava lied, staring after the boy who had nearly knocked her over. 

“Was that Rubeus Hagrid?” 

“Yes it was.” Tom was looking after him also. 

“I wonder where he was off to in such a rush.” Ava said, starting down the stairs. 

“Yes, I wonder.” Tom said thoughtfully, his lips pulling down into a frown. 

“Would you like to find out?” He asked suddenly and Ava blinked in surprise. Sneaking out after hours, convincing her to do potentially dangerous magic and now stalking a Gryffindor student; Tom Riddle was just full of surprises today. She didn’t turn down the adventure though. 

“Alright.” 

They picked up their pace, following the way that Rubeus had gone. It wasn’t exactly difficult, most people were at dinner and his thundering footsteps echoed off of the stone walls. 

Soon they found themselves in the dungeons where the footsteps had ceased. 

“Well now what?” Ava asked, leaning her head against one of the cold walls and letting it soothe her headache. 

Tom paced the corridor they were in, looking at each door. 

“We wait, I suppose.” He said and he slid down the wall beside her to sit on the floor. Ava looked at him with an eyebrow raised. 

“You don’t want to do something else?” She asked without any conviction. She copied his actions and slid down the wall, perfectly happy to just sit for a while.

“Good things come to those who wait.” Tom replied, closing his eyes and leaning his head back on the wall. Ava followed suit, piling her hair on top of her head and securing it with a tie she kept on her wrist. 

She wasn’t sure how long they waited there, silently sitting in the corridor, but not a single person came into sight. The corridor was just off of the route from the Slytherin common room up to the entrance hall so although they heard the distant noises of students going between the two, no one appeared or walked past. 

Suddenly, a much closer noise got their attention. Ava sat up straight from where she had slouched against the wall and looked at Tom who was also looking alert. The noise had sounded like the scraping of a lock. 

A door opened slowly further down the corridor and in less that a second they were on their feet and sliding into the potions classroom to their left. Ava strained her ears and thought she could hear the low voices of two people talking. Then another scrape of a lock and heavy footsteps that told them Rubeus had left the corridor. 

Without speaking, they waited an extra few seconds before Tom opened the door and walked over to the door Rubeus had just left. There was a deadbolt locking it shut. 

“What kind of door has a bolt on both sides?” Ava asked aloud, remembering the scrape of the lock before Rubeus had left the room. 

Wordlessly, Tom tapped the lock with his wand and it slid open. Ava stood back apprehensively. She didn’t know what on earth to expect in this room. It sounded like Rubeus had been talking to somebody, but there was no way there was a person in this room, was there? 

Tom opened the door to reveal the inside of a dark broom cupboard. For a split second, both he and Ava looked into the cupboard at their own eye level and saw it was empty. Then, Ava dropped her gaze downwards and saw the torchlight of the corridor glinting off of eight enormous eyes. 

She screamed. It was high pitched and terrified. The torches in the corridor all went out in quick succession, the door to the cupboard slammed itself shut so hard that a three foot crack appeared in the wood and the deadbolt sealed itself before turning burning red and melting into a twisted blob holding the door closed. 

“Rochford!” Tom shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders and giving her a small shake. She had stopped screaming but her eyes were still wide and frightened. 

“Did you- did you-“ she stuttered, pointing a shaking hand at the cupboard. 

“I saw it.” Tom confirmed, pulling on her wrist to get her to move. Now that she had screamed someone was bound to come down here to see what was going on. Not to mention they needed to get back to the room of requirement. 

“It was-“ Ava gasped unable to think of a word to describe the monster, instead letting Tom guide her and for once not thinking about the feeling of his hand on her wrist. 

The memory of it’s body, the size of a Rottweiler, eight long hairy legs and those eyes. A shudder wracked her body. 

When they were safely up three flights of stairs, Ava calmed down. She took deep breaths and thought clearly. It was an Acromantula, she had read about them before but she couldn’t remember where. They were giant spiders. Although known to eat humans when fully grown, the one in the cupboard was obviously only in adolescence at most. It had only stared at them when they opened the door, it hadn’t made any move to attack or provoke them. They probably scared the living daylights out of it. She suddenly felt ashamed of herself. 

“Should we tell someone?” She asked, finally tugging her wrist from Tom’s hand and coming to a stop. 

“I mean, Acromantula can be extremely dangerous.” 

Tom considered it for a moment. 

“I don’t think so.” He arranged his features into a look of concern. 

“Rubeus could be expelled this time, with his track record of dangerous pets. It isn’t fully grown anyway so it isn’t causing any harm.” He sugarcoated his voice a little and angled his body towards her. He needed her to agree with him. He needed to appeal to her caring nature.

To his immense relief, Ava nodded. 

Tom checked his watch and his stomach dropped. They were due back in the room of requirement any minute and they were at least three floors away. 

“We need to go right now.” He said urgently, grabbing her again and moving down the corridor as fast as possible without breaking into a sprint. 

“What?” Ava asked, completely floored by this sudden urgency. 

“We need to get back before we get there” he said hurriedly, dragging her up a flight of stairs so fast that she nearly tripped several times. 

“What does that even mean?” She asked exasperatedly, struggling to keep up with his long strides. 

“You’re supposed to be intelligent” he spat at her, throwing caution to the wind about being seen running by a teacher and running up to the seventh floor. Ava gasped for breath as she tried to keep up. Tom let go of her to pace in front of the blank wall quickly, seizing the handle of the door that appeared and shoving her through. 

“For Merlin’s sake if you would just _explain_ -“ she began, but Tom cut her off seemingly muttering to himself. 

“We need a place to hide,” he looked around the room before a bookcase popped forwards from one of the walls, revealing a small alcove behind it large enough for both of them to stand in. 

“In” he said to Ava, shoving her back so that she stumbled into the gap. He stepped in next to her and tapped the bookcase with his wand so that it slid back; concealing them from view and plunging them into darkness. 

“Can you explain now?” Ava asked angrily, annoyed that he had basically ignored all of her questions. 

“Keep your voice down” he whispered back, Ava couldn’t see him in the dark but she could feel the warmth of his arm pressed against hers in the small space and felt him lean forwards, trying to hear through the bookcase. 

“What are you-“ Ava started to ask, forgetting to whisper when Tom seized her around the middle and slipped his hand over her mouth. Ava made a noise of surprise in the back of her throat which made Tom’s hand clamp down harder and she took the hint to shut up. 

Now that the pair of them were silent, she could hear movements from the other side of the bookcase and then her own voice. Her eyes widened in shock as she realised what Tom had meant by ‘we need to get back before we get there’. She felt ridiculously dim, obviously they needed to get back to the room of requirement. The sight of the giant spider had made her forget that she had even travelled back in time in the first place.

She was distracted from eavesdropping on her own conversation by the realisation of how close Tom was to her. She was pulled flush against him and could feel his jaw pressed against her temple while he held her tight - to keep her silent and still. Even though his hand was still covering her mouth she bit down on her lip hard. She didn’t fancy finding out what would happen if they were caught by their past selves. 

Finally, after a few long minutes, the room fell silent. Tom removed his hand from her mouth and she felt him lean forwards to press his ear to the book case again. A second later she heard a tap which meant he had hit it with his wand and it moved out of their way. 

Torchlight from the room blinded her momentarily when she stepped out of the darkness but her eyes swiftly adjusted. Tom was already at the door. 

“Let’s go.” 

The pair of them snuck quietly down to the dungeons, looking around at every creak the suits of armour in the corridors made, jumping at the distant sounds of footsteps. 

They made it to the corridor of the Slytherin common room and Ava sighed with relief. They hadn’t been caught, they were fine. 

That was until Professor Slughorn rounded the corner. 

Ava stopped short at the sight of him approaching and all colour drained from her face. She had the intense feeling that someone had just dropped a bucket of ice over her head. 

Slughorn looked up and saw them at the end of the corridor and he looked confused when he came over. 

“Good evening Professor,” Tom said politely, not seeming at all ruffled at being caught out of bed long after curfew. 

“Tom, Avaline, what on earth are you two scoundrels doing wandering around after dark?” Despite the affectionate way he said ‘scoundrels’, Slughorn seemed uncharacteristically serious. 

“You know how dangerous it is to be out with these attacks going on. I expected better of my two best students.” 

Ava looked down, her pale cheeks now flooding with colour as an even worse feeling flooded her stomach. She couldn’t stand the thought of disappointing anybody. It wasn’t in her nature. 

“You see Professor, we just got back from a late prefect patrol.” Tom said imploringly, sounding truly desperate to make Slughorn understand. Ava looked sideways at him but he avoided her gaze, keeping his eyes fixed on the portly teacher in front of them. 

“The Hufflepuff’s asked us to cover for them tonight, they had so much homework to get done. We thought it wouldn’t do any harm, since we’re ahead in our work.” He looked across at Ava then, who was still looking at him in wonder from where all these seamless lies were coming from. 

“But we were kept out later than usual because we kept hearing footsteps upstairs and trying to catch whoever was up. We thought it might be the person behind the attacks. We thought-“ Tom sighed and looked down, apparently in shame.

“We thought we could catch them ourselves.” Ava supplied in a small voice, trying her best to look as embarrassed and ashamed as Tom was managing. 

Slughorn surveyed them both with a fatherly expression. 

“Now I know you two are very bright students, but this person isn’t going to be caught by a couple of teenagers. I know you were doing what you thought best but I really must insist that you get to bed and try nothing of the sort again.” He wagged a finger at them, but his eyes sparkled. They both nodded. 

“P-Professor?” Ava asked in an even smaller voice as Slughorn went to move past them. Slughorn looked at her expectantly. 

“Are we in any trouble?” She practically whispered, letting tears cloud her vision and looking up at him through big blue, watery eyes. 

Slughorn smiled at her and patted her shoulder. 

“As long as you don’t try this again I see no reason for anybody else to know about it m’dear. Now off to bed.” 

Tom gave him a dazzling smile that almost made Ava’s eyes shoot up. She had only ever seen him smile like that once before. Quickly, she deduced it was a tactic he saved for winning people over. 

They walked a few paces down the corridor and entered the Slytherin common room. Ava took a deep breath and smiled once they were safely inside. 

“I can’t believe we got away with that.” 

Tom was quiet and went over to the table where he had left his bag and textbooks before they went to the room of requirement. 

“You’re awfully good at that” Ava commented as he walked away. 

“At what?” Tom asked, taken aback. 

“Bending people to your will” she replied with a tone that Tom wasn’t sure he liked. She sounded like she was mocking him. Was he not bending her to his will? 

“By the looks of it, so are you.” He replied smoothly, looking over his shoulder at her. She tugged her hair from the bun she had put it in earlier, letting her silvery blonde hair tumble around her shoulders. She only smiled in response. 

 


	20. Inner Demons and Dementors

The lead up to the Hogsmeade weekend was filled with anticipation. Since it was the first one of the year for Ava, she had already picked out what she was going to wear for the occasion and was willing to discuss the days’ plan with anyone who asked. She was going to Honeyduke’s first; then to Dervish and Banges to pick up more stationary; then she was meeting the rest of the group in the Three Broomsticks for lunch. 

Tom’s curiosity about her abilities seemed to be - at least temporarily - sated. Exam revision had been the prominent topic of conversation with him and more often than not Ava found herself just watching him work over the desk they shared in the library. 

“So are you hanging out with us in Hogsmeade tomorrow or what?” Erin asked Ava waspishly when she got back to the dormitory after a late night library studying session. 

Ava loosened her tie and looked at Erin in surprise. 

“Of course I am.” 

Erin sniffed and undid her tight bun, letting her silky dark hair down. 

“Well you can’t blame me for asking. I barely see you anymore.”   
“Erin, you know I’ve been working for our exams.” Ava explained gently, not wanting to make the matter any worse. She hadn’t realised that their distance had been annoying Erin. Ava felt sad about it but certainly not irritated; they both had a lot on their plates this time of year. 

“Exams aren’t for another month Ave.” Erin folded her arms. She didn’t even look the least bit threatening; sat up in bed in her pyjamas, her hair out of it’s austere bun. But Ava tried to take her seriously. 

“Only a month, you mean.” She replied in a soft voice, picking up her pyjamas and walking over to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. She heard Erin ‘hurrumph’ and pull her hangings closed. 

Ava sighed and leaned her head against the closed bathroom door. She didn’t want Erin to be annoyed with her, but everything she did seemed to make it worse. Hogsmeade would have to be her chance to make it right. Besides, if Erin wasn’t on her side she would bet a kidney that the other girls would be on the outs with her as well - regardless of what was going on vis-a-vis Erin and Alphard vs Felicia and Alphard. 

 

Erin and Ava walked together down to breakfast next morning and Ava put more effort in than usual to be upbeat. She was wearing her favourite muggle lace dress underneath her robes for the occasion and Erin was sporting a fancy navy bardot dress with a string of pearls. 

“I can’t wait to get into town, there’s so much stuff I need to stock up on.” Ava chattered away as the pair of them descended the marble stairs to the great hall. Erin was being unusually quiet and this created a nagging feeling in Ava’s stomach. Right before they reached the doors, Ava tugged Erin back a little by the crook of her elbow. 

“Hey, I wanted to ask you something.” She said, glancing around to make sure nobody they were close with was around. A group of Hufflepuff’s bustled past them on their way into the great hall so Ava pulled Erin out of the way. 

“What is it?” Erin arched a dark eyebrow. 

“I wanted to ask if, well if you’re going steady with Alphard?” Ava asked, hoping beyond hope that she had read the situation correctly and Erin would be happy with her taking an interest. 

To her immediate relief, a large smile spread across Erin’s face. 

“Yes, we are.” She beamed. 

“It’s only been official for a few days now, today is our first proper date. We were going to sneak off to Madam Puddifoot’s for tea before lunch.” 

“That’s great darling.” Ava gushed, pulling her best friend into a hug. Since Ava was shorter than Erin, her nose got squished on her shoulder, but she didn’t care. 

“At the risk of asking,” Ava said as they pulled apart. 

“Have you told your parents?” It was a well documented topic between them the Shafiq’s would be over the moon if Erin married into the Black family. Which was precisely why Erin had regarded the whole lot of them with a mental barge pole. 

“Of course not.” Erin scoffed and the pair of them resumed their walk into the great hall. 

“They’d be sorting out wedding arrangements for next week.” 

Ava laughed and they sat down at their usual spot. Alphard came in barely five minutes later and greeted Erin with a long kiss on the cheek. Erin giggled uncharacteristically and Ava’s eyebrows shot up. This evidently wasn’t the same as one of Erin’s many hook-ups. 

“Hey Ave,” Alphard greeted her politely, picking up a slice of toast. 

“Hey you.” She replied carefully. She was suddenly very unsure of herself. Her relationship with Alphard had always been very close and flirtatious, even though both of them knew it didn’t mean anything. Now that he was dating her best friend it didn’t seem appropriate to converse with him in any way except for cordial civility. 

Although keeping a broad smile hitched expertly in place for the rest of breakfast, Ava kept quiet and subdued. Felicia and Cecilia were taking sides against Erin, Erin was barely happy with Ava herself and now she was stripped of the stability of having Alphard by her side. A slow realisation was dawning on her that she had hardly any friends left. 

A wave of anguish took over her when she thought of Lachlan, frozen in the hospital wing. She didn’t even have her sandy haired Scot to keep her company. As the emotion built in her chest, so did the tendrils of magic she could feel inside of her, rising to the surface. 

Feeling a pair of eyes boring into the side of her head, Ava glanced down the table to see Tom amidst his group of Slytherin cronies. He raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking if she was okay. Ava swallowed hard and rearranged the smile on her face, which had started to look forced, into a much more easy-going one. The feeling in her chest receded and with it, the dangerous feeling of her magic spiralling from her control. 

It wasn’t long after that that her group of friends decided to start filing out to the entrance hall to sign out with Apollyon Pringle, the caretaker. Michael Prewett and his twin sister Polly were standing in front of them in line. 

“Hey there,” Michael greeted Ava, who had not-so-subtly shifted to the front of the group to be closer to them. 

“Hi,” she smiled back. 

“Haven’t seen you about in a while.” While Michael engaged her in conversation, Polly tactfully started talking to a friend in front of her in order to give them a little privacy. 

“Yeah well, I’ve been neck deep in revision.” Ava replied, twisting the ends of her hair around her finger. 

“Revision? Already?” Michael laughed, running a hand through his own russet coloured hair.   
“Already?” Ava asked incredulously. “There’s only a month until exams!” 

“Exactly. Loads of time, besides I know it all already.” Michael boasted, shuffling up as the queue to get outside moved onwards. 

“Oh I’m sure,” Ava agreed semi-sarcastically. She knew that Michael generally did well in school even though he seemed to put no effort in whatsoever. 

“So what are your plans for today?” He asked nonchalantly. Ava noticed he had shoved his hands into the pockets of his robes and a tint of red was rising up his neck. She bit back a smile at the thought of making Michael Prewett nervous. 

“Not much, just hanging out with friends.” She replied in an equally nonchalant tone. 

“You?” 

“Me and Polly are replenishing our stock of fireworks.” 

“Of course you are.” Ava chuckled, picturing the many ways in which the Prewett twins could cause havoc with fireworks. 

“You know, that’s probably only going to take a little while.” Michael ventured, looking directly into Ava’s light blue eyes. 

“If you wanted to do something after.” The blush had spread all the way up to his hairline now. Ava sincerely regretted the fact that she had made plans for the day already. 

“I’m really sorry,” she started, trying to let how honestly disappointed she was leak into her voice. 

“I’m kind of booked up for today, how about next time?” 

“I’ll hold you to that.” Michael winked before turning around to show Mr Pringle his permission slip and rejoining his twin. 

“Well that’s a juicy detail of your life you’ve kept to yourself.” Erin said, slinging an arm around Ava’s shoulders while Ava showed the caretaker her permission slip. 

“There’s not much to tell really.” Ava sighed, wishing she had more to gossip about. 

“Not much to tell” Erin scoffed, “that poor boy had hearts in his eyes looking at you my love.” 

Ava felt her heart rate speed up a little. 

“You think?” She asked, grinning at her best friend. 

“I know.” Erin said with an air of finality. The pair of them walked outside into the warm sunshine. 

“Besides, he’s way better for you than-“ 

Alphard cleared his throat loudly and grabbed Erin’s hand so that she took her arm off of Ava’s shoulder. 

“Ava darling, what did you say you wanted to get from Dervish and Banges?” Alphard asked her. The ‘darling’ had apparently slipped out but after a furtive glance at Erin and not seeing any irritation on her face, only sheepishness, Ava replied. 

“Oh I needed to get a few new quills. Mine are all broken, I’ve been borrowing them from other people for nearly a week.” 

Since Tom was a touchy subject with her friends, she had taken to referring to him generally as ‘a friend’ or just ‘people’. 

Speaking of the devil, she noticed the familiar dark head of hair coming out of the castle doors a little way behind them. Cecilia, Felicia and Druella were hanging back behind Erin and Alphard and behind a group of Ravenclaws was Tom, Lestrange and Malfoy. 

After a few seconds of deliberation, Ava decided that she could put off being a third wheel until they reached the village and since she didn’t want to gossip spitefully about Erin, joining the three girls behind them was out of the question. 

“I’ll catch up with you guys when we get there.” Ava told Erin and Alphard, who looked a little too happy to be left alone to be entirely polite, and broke off from the group to walk backwards to where Tom and his friends were at the back of the stream of students heading to the village. 

A couple of the Ravenclaws greeted her when she went past and she waved at them. Upon seeing her approaching, Malfoy and Lestrange wordlessly sped up to walk past her and leave Tom alone. She raised her eyebrows at the pair of them in surprise but they didn’t make eye contact with her as they passed. 

“I didn’t mean to scare your friends away.” She commented, as Tom fell into step beside her. Not that she would say it out loud in this lifetime, but she really liked how his eyes looked in direct sunlight. They were a lot more green than brown and it made them seem a lot lighter, more friendly. 

“I didn’t mean to take you away from yours.” Tom replied, surveying her appearance and noticing the sunlight dancing on her silvery hair. It caught the light every time she moved. 

“I’m not entirely sure I’m welcome with them at the moment.” Her mouth twisted into a light frown and her brow creased unhappily. It was becoming a habit of hers to let her true emotions out when she spoke to Tom. He had such a calming effect on her most of the time that she didn’t worry about losing control of herself. 

“I was thinking about the other day.” She said suddenly, letting a thought that had been plaguing her for several days out into the open. 

“You know the hour-reversal spell? Well that was pretty advanced magic and I was thinking if I could handle than then maybe I could handle other stuff.” 

“What did you have in mind?” Tom asked, curious to know where her train of thought was going.  
“I keep thinking that if I was in more control, if I had more power, I’d be able to beat whatever monster is going around attacking people.” Ava replied honestly, a little afraid Tom would think she was being stupid. 

“Especially since the mandrake draughts aren’t going to be ready until after exams. I can’t bear to do nothing until then. Someone needs to make it stop.” 

“It’s not a bad idea.” Excitement bubbled in Tom’s chest but he couldn’t scare her off. 

“But the kind of spells you’re talking about, to attack an unknown monster, could lead you to some dark magic.” 

“I don’t care.” Ava replied stoutly. Her mind was set. If Tom was there to help her, she was sure she could stop the attacks. 

“We’ll have to do some research. If we could narrow down what we are dealing with it would be easier to find spells to practise.” Tom said, visions filling his mind of training Rochford to perform wandless unforgivable spells. 

The gravel crunched under their feet as they reached the end of the path out of the grounds and the gates of the school. The temperature had been slowly decreasing the closer they got but Ava was so engrossed in their conversation that she hadn’t noticed. Right by the gates however, the cold seemed to have seized her heart in a vice-like grip.

“What-” Ava asked, shivering violently, “-is that?” 

She was peering up at the towering wrought iron gates, unnerved by the cold that had washed over her, chilling her to the very core. 

“Dementors” Tom answered as one of the tall, hooded creatures glided past the entrance. Many of the students in front of them shivered as well. 

“They’ll be why you feel so unsettled. They drain happiness from people and leave them with their worst experiences” He sounded completely indifferent to the matter. Like they were having no effect on him at all. 

As they drew even closer to the gates Ava tried to hide how badly the dementors' presence was affecting her but her teeth had started to chatter and an ache had developed in her right temple. Her vision had started to swim, she could hear dreadful voices in her head and the cold feeling seemed to be digging into her very heart. 

Memories that she didn’t even know she had were forcing their way to the surface of her brain. She was six years old, back in Switzerland with her parents and the door was blasted open.

“The feeling will pass once we’re further away” Tom said, eyeing the creatures by the gates of the school as they finally drew level with them. 

He stepped across the school’s border and went to look at Ava before realising that she was no longer at his side.

“Why have you stopped Rochf- Rochford?” 

He turned his head to see her frozen a step behind him, her face extremely pale and her blue eyes wide with absolute terror. Leaves and pebbles on the ground around her floated into the air and began to rotate slowly, her hair was caught up too as a loud, rushing wind filled the previously silent cool air and the iron gates creaked ominously. 

Ava didn’t seem to notice any of this, her eyes still incredibly distant she took a shaky step forwards and promptly keeled over, her eyes rolling back into her head. Her parents were not only murdered, they were sliced open curse after curse, their screams were never ending in her mind.

Tom only just about managed to lunge forwards and catch her. 

As soon as he did, the wind stopped, the debris fell back to the ground and the gates stopped whining. Hurriedly Tom glanced backwards over his shoulder to see if anyone who had been in front of them had seen anything, but all he could see of them were the distant silhouettes of their backs heading towards Hogsmeade. 

He wasn’t worried about anyone back at the castle witnessing what had just happened, they were too far from any of the windows for anyone to have had a clear view and dementors were blind. Her secret was safe. At times like this, he couldn’t believe that he was the only one to have figured her out, now he knew it was so bloody obvious.

With a curious look down at her now peaceful face he wondered what had happened in her past that was so awful for dementors to have such an effect on her, since they barely made him feel uncomfortable at all. But, there were more pressing matters to think about - like getting her back up to the castle. 

As accomplished as he was at levitating charms, Tom could not bring himself to levitate her there. He reasoned to himself - as he lifted her carefully from the ground - that he had never tried it on a human being before and he couldn’t risk damaging something so important to his plans.

When Ava came to, she was incredibly irritated to once again be looking up at the ceiling of the hospital wing. Despite wanting to one day be a healer herself, she had spent far too much time in that room for her liking already this year. 

She still felt incredibly cold and her brain still seemed to be banging itself on the inside of her skull. Without lifting her head, she turned it to see Tom sitting dutifully in a chair by her bedside. 

“How long was I out?” She asked, her voice rough. She glanced at the jug of water on her bedside. It was too far away for her to bother. 

“Only about half an hour.” Tom replied, watching her gaze and reaching for the water himself. 

“What did you see?” He asked curiously, handing her a glass full. 

“I saw…” Ava trailed off, the horrifying images still fresh in her mind. She sat up slowly and chugged half of the glass of water in hopes that it would soothe her throat. 

“I saw my parents being killed. I didn’t even know that I was in the room, I never…” Her voice faded off again, her large blue eyes focussed on something he couldn’t see. She had been under a disillusionment charm and hidden in a wardrobe when Grindelwald’s forces came. But she had looked out of a crack in the door. Ava had never remembered anything in particular about her life in Switzerland before moving in with her Aunt. 

“I will never rest until those dementors are away from this school!” Madame Turnley exclaimed as she bustled from her office holding a large bar of Honeyduke’s chocolate. 

“Every single Hogsmeade trip there’s a student who ends up in here. Those lecherous, disgusting-“ She mumbled the rest incoherently and shoved the chocolate into Ava’s hands. 

“You can only leave when you’ve had all of it.” The matron warned sternly, knowing full well that Ava disliked being a patient in the hospital wing. Ava rolled her eyes when the older woman turned away but took a bite of the chocolate none-the-less. Instant warmth spread across her chest and she sighed happily, taking another bite. 

“You were there when your parents were killed?” Tom asked somewhat insensitively once the matron had left again.

“Apparently so.” Ava tried to play off how badly the memories were affecting her. 

Tom didn’t probe her further. He didn’t want to trigger another violent reaction in a room full of petrified students and the matron barely twenty feet away. 

“I think I’m going to go lay down for the rest of the day.” Ava said once she had polished off the chocolate and swung her legs off of the bed. 

Tom offered her a silent hand to help her hop off the bed which she took. 

“Do you want me to come back to the common room with you?” He asked politely as they walked out of the hospital wing. 

“No, if it was only half an hour I’m sure you can still make it to Hogsmeade. I’m sure Malfoy and Lestrange are missing you.” Ava half smiled before turning tail and heading down to the Slytherin common room, leaving Tom in the hallway. 

The common room was full of students too young to go to Hogsmeade and anxious seventh years - all of which was too loud for Ava so she walked straight through to get to her dormitory. 

Her heart felt oddly heavy and empty at the same time. She didn’t know that a feeling like that was possible but that’s what it felt like. She was sad that she hadn’t even seen her parents faces clearly or properly heard their voices in her memories. She had only witnessed their brutal murders and felt the true heartbreak of being an orphan that she had never really felt before. 

 

“What happened to you?” Erin demanded as soon as she got back to the dormitory that evening. Her dark brown eyes were blazing and she looked ready to kill. 

“I had a bit of an accident.” Ava replied, biting her lip. She hadn’t thought about how upset Erin would have been when she didn’t show up to the village. After all, they were supposed to be spending most of the day together. 

“What kind of accident?” Erin snapped, folding her arms. Ava had only napped for a few hours before reading in bed. She had missed both lunch and dinner but didn’t feel hungry at all. 

“The dementors-“ 

Erin barked a short, fake laugh. 

“The dementors. The dementors were the reason you ditched us to go back to school with Tom Riddle?!” 

“I didn’t ditch you-“ Ava tried to interject, her feelings hurt by this accusation. 

“So going off with no explanation what do you call that?” Erin cut her off. 

“I thought Michael Prewett would do you some good, I thought it might distract you from that freak!” 

“Hey!” Ava crossed her own arms and frowned back at Erin. Taking shots at Tom was just unnecessary. 

“He is not a freak.” 

“He’s completely changed you as a person Ave! I barely recognise you anymore.” Erin spat spitefully. Ava’s mouth dropped open in indignation. If anyone had changed, it was the others. Not her. 

“Are you going to tell me why you ditched us or not?” Erin said after a second of silence. 

“I guess it doesn’t matter, if you’re not going to listen to me.” Ava said back, just as spitefully as Erin had spoken to her. 

“You’re right, I guess it doesn’t.” Erin said venomously, throwing the dormitory door open and storming out of it. Ava let out a yell of frustration and the door slammed shut by itself. The hangings on her four poster bed all yanked themselves closed before tearing off of the hooks and falling to the floor. The window in their dormitory smashed and a blast of cold evening air entered the warm room. 

Finally getting a grip on herself. Ava got out of bed with some deep breaths and went about repairing the damage to the room. Getting the door unstuck proved quite a challenge as she had somehow jammed it closed. 

When her hangings were repaired, Ava shut them and got into bed, pulled her hair up into a ponytail so that it was out of the way of her face before laying face down on her pillow and letting a couple of silent tears leak out of her eyes.

Ava finally fell asleep around midnight, hugging herself tightly. She had never felt more alone in her life.


	21. Young and Menace

Erin was gone before Ava woke up the next morning. The other three girls in the dormitory were in quiet discussion and seemed to be making a point of not looking at her. Ava felt sadness swell in her chest before it was quashed by her growing rage. Erin had no idea what Ava was dealing with, her best friend didn’t even care to hear about her passing out because of the dementors. Ava felt completely wrongly accused. She was sick of everything going on in her head and hated Erin for making it that much worse. 

She flounced out of the dormitory as soon as she was dressed, having deliberately put more effort into her appearance than normal. She had slipped on a pair of heels that she usually reserved for special occasions and her skirt was at least three inches shorter than it was allowed to be. Her hair was in big, bouncy curls with half of it pinned back from her face so that her blue eyes - outlined in kohl - were more prominent. If they wanted to ignore her, she’d give them a hard time trying. 

When she walked into the great hall for breakfast, at least half of its occupants turned their heads to watch her progress to the Slytherin table where she walked with slow, deliberate grace. Her shoulders were thrown back, her chin was high and she let every lesson that her Aunt Hestia had grilled into her as a child swim to the surface of her mind. 

Without so much as a glance down to her usual spot at the table where she knew Erin and Alphard were, Ava walked over to Tom and his group of friends. 

“Move.” She commanded Nott, who was sat on Tom’s left, and he hastily pushed all of his things aside to make room for her. 

“May I ask what you are doing?” Tom murmured to her without lifting his eyes from a textbook he had propped open on the milk jug. 

“I’m making a statement.” Ava replied, tossing her curls over one shoulder and fixing him with a scorching look, daring him to question her. 

Tom looked up slowly, seeming to not want to tear his eyes from the page, before taking in her appearance while Ava fixed herself a cup of coffee to help get her through the day. 

“As a prefect, you should probably set more store by the school dress code.” He said, but the corner of his mouth twitched. 

“Yeah well, right now I’m sick of this school.” Ava replied, having accidentally looked past him and caught Alphard’s worried eyes down the table. The coffee in the mug she was clutching started to swirl like a whirlpool. 

Tom startled her out of her staring contest by lightly touching the back of her hand with his fingertips. Ava looked down at the mug and quickly set it on the table. 

Tom frowned as he watched her fiddle with a napkin and nervously run her hands through her hair again and again. Rochford was out of sorts and in a bad way. She was obviously going through some kind of fight with her friends and it was having an effect on her self control. He had not predicted that separating her from the group would yield such results. 

“Are you alright?” He asked softly, so that the boys around them could not hear. He thought that if he tried to feign empathy, perhaps that may solidify their friendship and she would leave her old friends behind without complications. 

Ava turned to look at him, her face a mixture of emotion. She didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t alright, she felt like all of her friends had turned against her, she had dreamed all night of her parents’ murder and didn’t know who to tell about it, she felt like she was useless in protecting the school from whatever it was attacking everyone. 

“I’m fine.” She managed a weak smile before looking away to meet Lestrange’s eye across the table. Lestrange quickly looked down and Tom watched, satisfied. 

 

The day was painful to say the least. Ava’s mood did nothing but worsen every time she saw Erin, Druella, Felicia or Cecilia. It was a Hogwarts first, Ava Rochford - who was usually so nice to everybody - was walking around with a scowl on her face, looking ready to hex the next person who spoke to her. Fifth years started to gossip when she passed, quickly averting their gaze if she looked over at them. Her glare could have cut steel.

The worst lesson of the day by far was Ancient Runes. Unfortunately, Ava had been held up in Divination because she had opted to sit in the very furthest corner of the room, which meant she was last in line to climb down the rope ladder out of the tower room. This, in turn, made her the last one into the Ancient Runes classroom. Her usual spot between Alphard and Tom was empty and she walked over to it, irritated. If she had arrived earlier she would have made Tom move up so that she could forgo the awkwardness of having to sit next to Alphard. 

Being the skilled actress she was, feigning indifference came frighteningly easy to her. She took her seat without looking anywhere but the chalkboard at the front of the room. She arranged her things on the desk and diligently followed Professor Sillious’ instructions; translating a paragraph from page two-hundred and sixty-two. 

Alphard’s grey eyes were sharp against the side of her face. Ava responded by casually rolling back her shoulder and stretching before leaning forwards to continue her work, resting her elbow on the table and conveniently letting her curls fall in between them. 

The tension in the room subsided a little with the silvery-blonde barrier halving the desk, but it was short lived. An origami crane flew elegantly past Ava’s hair and landed right on top of her notes where it unfolded itself. 

_‘What is the matter with you?’_

It read in Alphard’s sloping handwriting. Ava gritted her teeth at the question. Although in the recesses of her mind she knew Alphard meant the question in a concerned way, the forefront would not be talked out of the anger she was determined to feel. She took his question to heart; he could have been referring to any number of things. 

What was the matter with her, for hurting Erin yesterday by not coming to Hogsmeade? 

What was the matter with her, for continuing her friendship with Tom despite his warning?

What was the matter with her, for distancing herself from the group she had been best friends with for years? 

The answer was, Ava thought fiercely, watching the corners of the note begin to smoulder, that nothing was the matter with her. It was everyone else that seemed to have problems. Everyone else that seemed to be ruining her life piece by piece. 

The note crumbled into smoking ash on her notes and the windows in the room were suddenly thrown open by an enormous rush of wind. 

“Oh dear.” Commented Professor Sillious, rushing over to close them with her wand. 

“It seems as though a storm is picking up out there.” 

It was true that dark clouds had formed overhead and the trees of the forbidden forest in the distance were swaying dangerously. 

Everyone in the classroom stared outside for a second except for Ava, who brushed the ashes of Alphard’s note off of her parchment and continued her work, a scowl still etched onto her face. 

Tom looked from the window to the girl next to him. It must have been coincidence. There was no conceivable way that Rochford’s estrangement from her friends could have evoked such a reaction. She couldn’t possibly be affecting the actual weather. 

He thought back to when she described her abilities to him. 

‘ _My kind of magic is volatile; it’s heavily influenced by things like my mood and emotions’_

Tom had never seen Rochford more upset than she was today. She always seemed like nothing could touch her. There was a chance that his plan was backfiring massively, she was no use to him out of control like this. 

When it was time for them to pack away, Ava made a quick decision and grabbed Tom’s wrist before he could leave the table. He looked at her questioningly but she waited for Alphard to leave before speaking. He met her gaze just before he left the room and nearly shivered from the coldness in her blue eyes.

“I thought I could do with some practising this lunchtime.” She said in a low voice, conscious of Professor Sillious behind the desk at the front of the room. 

“I’ve got a lot of energy that could use some direction and I don’t think I can face another mealtime with all of them looking at me.” 

The ‘them’ she was referring to obviously being her friends. Tom nodded and led Ava from the room. He noticed her fingers wouldn’t stop flexing.

“What were you thinking of practising?” He asked gently, concerned that anything might set her off when she was this highly strung. 

“I’m sure you’ve found something of maximum damage I can test.” Ava hissed, cracking her knuckles. Tom raised his eyebrows. He had been looking up more dangerous spells since she expressed a desire to put an end to the monster petrifying people, but he had expected to coax her into trying them. 

“Look, in here’s empty.” Ava stopped next to an empty classroom further down the corridor and peered into it. 

“What about the room of requirement?” Tom asked, following her in. He could barely keep up with her changes in mood today and it was starting to frustrate him. 

“It’ll take us nearly ten minutes just to get there, we’ve only got an hour for lunch we might as well just use this.” Ava said impatiently, waving her hand so that the door slammed shut once Tom was through it. He walked to the back of the room and folded his arms. 

“So what spell did you want me to teach you?” 

“Anything.” Ava replied, taking off her heavy school robes and rolling up the sleeves of her jumper. 

Tom fished his wand from his pocket and pointed it at the teachers desk. 

“Bombarda maxima.” He said, almost lazily. The desk exploded. Shards of wood flew in every direction, many of them would have impaled Ava’s head if Tom hadn’t also cast a silent shield charm over both of them. 

“Reparo.” Ava pushed her hands forwards and the shards flew backwards in slow motion until the desk was reassembled. 

“This is going to be easy.” She smirked at Tom, who lifted his hands in a motion that told her to proceed. 

Ava faced the desk head on, lifted her hands and gritted her teeth as she let all of her emotions pour out of the dam she had tried to stem them behind. 

“Bombarda maxima!” She shouted, directing all of her energy forwards, towards the desk. 

To both of their utter astonishment, the desk did not change at all. The wall behind the desk however, blew up. The explosion was deafening. The chalk board on it broke into a million pieces, flying every which way towards them, forcing Ava to drop to the floor to avoid them. The huge stones broke apart and went tumbling into the corridor, where there was an awful scream. 

Ava’s ears were ringing when she sat up and a heavy ball of dread had settled in her stomach. Somebody had screamed. 

“Reparo.” She whispered, waving her hands and trying to repair the damage she’d done. Nothing happened. Ava could hear crying and saw a dark head of hair in the corridor. Erin. 

“Oh my God,” Ava said, clutching her chest. 

“Erin?” Erin looked around at her name, tears still streaking down her face. 

“Ave.” She choked out. Her legs had both been crushed by fallen stones. 

“Hold on,” Ava said, rushing over to her best friend and focussing on the situation at hand. She looked back at Tom, who was only just getting to his feet. They looked at each other in understanding before facing the damage and both saying: 

“Reparo.” At the same time. 

That time, Ava felt the magic working. In no time at all, the wall had repaired itself like nothing happened. She was on one side with Erin, who was still laying on her front with her legs bent at odd angles, and Tom was inside. 

Ava dropped to her knees by Erin’s head and held her hand shakily. It was her fault this had happened. If she hadn’t let her emotions get the better of her, get out of control, if she had just apologised to Erin yesterday night then she would have been fine. 

Tom came through the door and swiftly looked left and right down the corridor. 

“We need to get a teacher.” Ava said, wiping away tears that she hadn’t realised were falling down her cheeks. 

“No we don’t. It’s a miracle none have come already.” Tom said, quickly kneeling by Erin also and assessing the damage to her legs. 

“Yes we do.” Erin herself interjected, her face screwed up in pain and a fresh wave of tears pouring from her eyes. 

“My legs hurt so much.” 

“It’s okay.” Ava soothed her, without believing it for a second herself. How could she live with herself after doing this to her best friend. She had broken both of her legs. She should never have let her emotions get so out of hand. 

Wordlessly, Tom traced his wand over both of Erin’s legs and she let out a gasp, clutching Ava’s hand tightly in her own. 

“What are you doing?” Ava demanded, watching Tom work through eyes cloudy with tears. 

“What if you make it worse?” She sounded so broken that Tom looked up. 

“I know what I’m doing.” He said, completely sure of himself. 

He finished his spell and leaned back. 

“How do you feel?” He asked Erin emotionlessly. 

Erin frowned before wiggling her feet. She rolled onto her side - still holding onto Ava’s hand - and slowly stood up. 

“Fine.” She replied in surprise, wiping her wet cheeks with her sleeves. Erin’s hair, normally so neat and perfect, was in complete disarray and Ava could barely see where the bun had been.

“Come here.” The blonde smiled gently and eased the hair tie from Erin’s raven locks, running through them with her fingers until it looked presentable.

“I never wear my hair down.” Erin half laughed, running her own fingers through the long hair and finally letting go of Ava’s hand. 

“I think she might be in shock.” Tom whispered into Ava’s ear. Ava pushed him away. Erin was her main concern right now, not him. 

“Why aren’t you at dinner?” Ava asked Erin, who frowned. 

“I was looking for you. To apologise. Alphard said he saw you get held up in Ancient Runes.” Erin’s dark brown eyes flickered to Tom and back to Ava. 

“What happened to that wall?” 

Ava swallowed uncomfortably and looked down. 

“Was it you that did that?” Erin looked down at Ava’s hands. 

“And did you fix it? But where’s your wand?” 

Ava quickly stuck her hands in her pockets and cursed herself when she realised they were empty. She had left her fake wand somewhere. 

Tom stepped forwards and as soon as Erin looked at him he pressed his wand against her temple. 

“Obliviate.” 

Erin’s expression went blank and her mouth a little slack. 

“What have you done?!” Ava shouted, shoving Tom backwards and holding Erin’s face between her hands. Her dark eyes were unfocussed and she didn’t appear to notice Ava in front of her at all. 

“I modified her memory. She thinks she came to look for you, she couldn’t find you and went back to dinner.” Tom said matter-of-factly, stowing his wand in his pocket. Ava’s eyes were filling with tears again. 

“How could you do that?!” She half-whispered, still holding Erin close to her. Tom looked at her in confusion.

“Didn’t you hear her? She saw too much. This will stop her asking any questions or telling anybody about what happened.” 

“You can’t just go around changing people’s memories!” Ava cried, tears dripping down her face again. 

“I hurt her, she was injured because of me. I need to tell her I’m sorry, I need her to forgive me.” 

“If you need forgiveness for what just happened, I can give you that.” Tom replied smoothly, gently tugging Ava’s shoulders back so that she let go of Erin. 

“Erin, I think it best if you go back to dinner.” 

Erin, still completely dazed, nodded mutely and walked away down the corridor in a dream-like fashion. 

“I hurt Erin.” Ava whispered to herself, curling her arms up so that she hugged her own chest. 

“And she’s fine. She doesn’t remember it.” Tom said slowly, putting his hand on the small of her back so that he could walk her to the hospital wing. She might hate him for it but she was in dire need of a pepper-up potion. 

“That’s not the point!” Ava snapped at him, fresh tears welling in her eyes as she thought of the image of Erin trapped underneath those huge rocks. 

“I think this whole thing, this practising my magic thing, was a bad idea from the start.”

“Why do you say that?” Tom asked worriedly. He needed to nip whatever thoughts she was having in the bud. 

“I’ve never been as emotional as these past few weeks and look at where it’s gotten me. I’ve lost control more times than I can count.” Ava sniffed, wiping her eyes on her sleeves. 

“If you don’t do this now, how are you ever going to have full control over yourself?” He asked in the same soothing voice as before. 

Deep down, Ava knew that was he was saying made sense. She made a non-committal ‘hm’. 

“I am not going in there.” She said when they reached the doors of the hospital wing. 

“I really think-“ Tom began but Ava cut him off by poking him hard in the chest. 

“I said I am not going in there.” She turned on her heel and walked away. 

 

Ava ditched the rest of the school day and holed herself up in her dormitory. If anyone asked she would tell them she was sick. The matron would tell her teacher’s she didn’t like going to the hospital wing and that would be the end of that. 

She couldn’t believe Tom had just wiped Erin’s memory like that. She deserved Erin’s hatred for what had happened, for causing her that much pain. She needed to earn her best friend’s forgiveness or she would never forgive herself. She was out of control. 

Ava also thought of what Tom had said. If not now, when? And she knew that she could not give up trying to strike a balance between controlling her power and controlling her emotions. The sooner she did, the sooner she would stop blowing up walls. 

She did know one thing though, she could not bear to hurt somebody like she had hurt Erin. She wanted to be a healer, not to hurt people. The thought of it broke her heart. 

 

Erin herself came into the dormitory before dinner, looking sheepish. The two girls looked at each other. 

“I’m sorry!” They both cried at the same time. 

“Why are you sorry?” Ava asked in shock, getting out of her bed and walking into Erin’s open arms. 

“I heard about the dementors. About why you didn’t make it to Hogsmeade. Ave, I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you.” 

Hearing Erin’s apologies made Ava feel so much worse. 

“Erin, I’m so so sorry for hurting you. I can’t tell you how much.” Ava said, her face buried into Erin’s shoulder and the image of her broken legs swimming in her mind. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Erin replied, rubbing Ava’s back. Ava knew Erin wasn’t forgiving her for what she was truly apologising for, but it was still a comfort. 

“We’re both such messes without Lachlan aren’t we?” Erin joked, pulling away from Ava to neaten her hair, which was still down. Ava looked down sadly. 

“Yeah I guess we are.” 

“Well, he’ll be back soon to straighten us out.” Erin linked her arm through Ava’s. 

“Now are you feeling well enough for some dinner?” Her dark eyes sparkled. 

And although Ava joined her in going down to the great hall for dinner and sat with her group of friends as though she had never left; Ava could not shake the memory of Erin’s tear-soaked face in that corridor. A memory Erin wouldn’t have. And even though they were on good terms again, Ava felt as though they were further apart than when they hadn’t been speaking. 


	22. The Trust of the Innocent

“Hey Ava!” A voice called after Ava as she walked out of the library with her friends. Erin and Alphard in particular were going to extreme efforts to make Ava feel included again, which now involved accompanying her to the library to study after classes and during lunchtimes. As much as Ava appreciated it, the knots of guilt in her stomach over what she had done to Erin only days ago had not faded. 

The whole group stopped at the shout and Michael Prewett came through the library doors, shooting an apologetic smile at the librarian as he left for shouting in her quiet sanctuary. Ava immediately smoothed her hair down and Felicia laughed at her. Erin shot her a look that told her to shut up and not-so-subtly herded the group away to give Michael and Ava some privacy. 

“How are you?” Michael asked, grinning at her in a way that told her he knew exactly why Erin had shooed her friends away and why she was starting to feel hot around the collar. 

“Not bad, busy I guess. How about you?” Ava asked, shifting her weight and pleading with her own mind to be cool and collected. 

“Nothing to complain about at the moment.” He stuck his hands in the pockets of his robes. Ava cocked her head at him. His russet hair was windswept like he’d just got off his broom. He had such effortless grace, like he really didn’t care what people thought of him, but still managed to be cool. 

“The next Hogsmeade weekend is coming up pretty soon. The last one before exams.” He said suddenly and Ava blinked, suddenly realising where this was going. 

“Yeah, it is.” She grinned, enjoying making him squirm just a little. 

“I do remember something about asking you to go with me.” Michael smiled again, his nerves obviously fading as Ava’s smile got bigger. 

“I think I remember something like that happening.” Ava pretended to think, tapping her chin for effect which made him laugh. 

“Well, is that still okay?” He asked, knowing the answer. 

“Of course it is.” Ava’s cheeks were actually starting to hurt from smiling. A sobering thought crossed her mind though, the dementors. 

“On one condition.” 

“Sure” Michael nodded, looking amused and excited by her condition. Ava held back a laugh. It wasn’t anything like he was probably hoping for. 

“I’ll meet you when we get to the village.” Ava offered, hoping he didn’t think it was too weird. 

“Right.” Michael clicked his fingers and pointed at her. 

“Because of that thing with the dementors.” 

Ava’s mouth fell open. 

“Does everyone know about that?” She asked in a small voice, her gaze dropping down to his Gryffindor tie in embarrassment. 

“Hey, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Michael said consolingly, taking a couple of steps closer to her so that Ava had to look up to see his freckled face. 

“If it makes you feel more comfortable to meet me there then of course that’s fine.” He said, so sincerely that Ava’s heart all but melted. 

“Thanks.” She breathed. 

“I’ll see you then, I guess.” Making a quick, spur of the moment decision, she leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed Michael’s cheek gently. She heard him inhale sharply, but was leaning back before he could really register what had happened. 

“Yeah, see you then.” He replied, just a second too late. Ava felt elated as she took in his wide smile and the sparkle in his eyes. 

 

Conveniently, the last lesson of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Merrythought spent the lesson giving the class a long winded lecture on jinxes and anti-jinxes that nearly nobody listened to. Ava tried her best to take notes but it became increasingly difficult with Druella on one side sighing every two minutes and Cecilia on the other, drumming on the desk with her fingers. 

At the end of the lesson Ava went up to the teachers desk and put her game face on. 

“Professor, could I ask you something?” 

“Yes Avaline?” Professor Merrythought smiled encouragingly at her as he straightened a pile of essays on the edge of his desk. 

“I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction of warding off a dementor?” She asked with a big smile, tucking her hair behind her ear. 

Professor Merrythought’s smile however, faded. 

“That’s very advanced magic Avaline. Well beyond NEWT level.” He said, scratching his beard awkwardly. 

“I know it is, but I’m sure I’m capable.” Ava pleaded as Merrythought moved around the desk to put the papers in a drawer. 

“If you teach me Sir, I promise to work very hard.” 

Professor Merrythought was already shaking his head at her. 

“I’m sorry dear, I just think it is too advanced for you. I presume you are asking in referral to the dementors at the gates?” 

Ava nodded dejectedly. 

“Well they are not there to hurt you dear and I can’t think of a reason you’d need to ward them off. It is possible to learn to suppress the memories and emotions that they evoke, since you only need to walk past them for a few seconds, I’m sure that is your best course of action.” 

Ava could hardly believe her ears. He wanted her to suppress the vivid memories of her parents murder? 

“Sir, I’m really not sure that’s such a-“ 

“Now, off with you. I’ve a lot of marking to get done.” Merrythought was already sat back down behind the desk. 

Ava gritted her teeth at the dismissal and the fire in the torch-bracket behind the teacher’s desk blazed bigger and brighter for a second before she took a breath and smiled. 

“Of course Professor, I won’t bother you any longer.” 

Once she had turned and left the room, Ava couldn’t hold in the eye roll she had been fighting. Magic he didn’t think she could handle? Did he have any idea who he was talking to? 

She had half a mind to go straight to the library to teach herself the right spell. The problem was, it was likely to be in the restricted section and despite knowing Professor Slughorn would sign a note for her without a problem, teaching herself the spell from a book would take much longer than she had. The trip to Hogsmeade was coming up in a few days. There was no guarantee she would learn it in time, or even if she did learn it, that she would be able to perform it without fainting first. 

“What did you stay to ask about?” Felicia asked when Ava joined the group at dinner. 

“Nothing.” Ava replied, helping herself to some roast potatoes. It had become a habit not to tell her friends much of what was going on in her life anymore, even when she had no reason to keep it to herself. 

“Well you’ll never guess who asked me to Hogsmeade,” Felicia went on, clearly unbothered by Ava’s lack of response. 

“Who?” 

“Leonardo Selwyn.” 

Ava glanced at Erin who was a couple of seats down and seemed to be laughing a bit too hard at one of Alphard’s jokes to be entirely believable. 

“Didn’t Erin go out with him near the start of the year?” Ava asked Felicia quietly, whose excited smile dropped into a scowl. 

“So what if she did? I’d say they’re obviously over each other.” Felicia hissed and Druella gave Ava a look across the table that told her she had made a mistake mentioning it. 

Ava sighed and looked at her plate. She didn’t like this enmity between Felicia and Erin, especially since they pretended to be friends to each others faces. It was getting old fast. 

After dinner, Ava waved off her friends to go to the library. The down side of being pals with everyone again was that her time with Tom was more limited. Ava knew that Alphard had grown to virtually hate Tom but she could not for the life of her work out why. She avoided the subject with him at all costs because she knew it would get him started on a father-like spiel. 

“Hey.” Ava greeted Tom when she sat down. Tom had missed dinner to catch up on a Herbology essay but was silently grateful for the break when she sat down. 

“Hello.” He greeted politely. He had taken note that Rochford was on speaking terms with her friends again. It was hard to miss, since they accompanied her into the library more often than not. He hadn’t felt the need to intervene though, especially since her magic seemed to be back under her control and she was back to keeping up a happy facade. 

“Have you got much to do?” She asked conversationally as she pulled out the heavy textbooks she needed from her bag. 

“I’ve caught up on most of it now. I need to go in a few minutes.” 

Ava looked down at her watch in confusion. Dinner had just ended, the only places he would usually be at this time were here in the library or in the common room. 

“How come?” 

“A few friends and I are having tea with Professor Slughorn this evening.” Tom replied, thinking of the box of crystallised pineapple he had asked Malfoy to pick up from Honeydukes. 

Ava raised her eyebrows. She knew him too well. 

“And what, pray tell, is the purpose of this tea?” There wasn’t any way Tom Riddle would willingly sit through hours of Slughorn’s unabashed fawning for nothing. 

Tom half smiled and looked down at his work. He did have something very important to ask the professor, but he wasn’t going to tell Rochford that. 

“I thought I’d try and see if he would drop any hints about the exam.” He lied flawlessly with a beautiful smile. 

Ava caught her breath a little at the smile he gave her. It was the fully fledged smile that he reserved for very rare occasions. He usually reserved it for manipulating teachers she had noticed. 

“Fair enough.” She replied the tiniest bit too late. She didn’t believe him, that much was obvious, but she didn’t seem to want to probe any further. Especially if she would run the risk of being manipulated by that stunning smile. Instead she dropped her gaze to the transfiguration homework in front of her. 

The troubled expression on her face did not go unnoticed by the dark haired boy. 

“What’s bothering you?” He asked gently, knowing that playing the empathetic friend usually got her to spill what was on her mind these days. 

“Well - it’s going to sound stupid” Ava squirmed, chewing on her lower lip and playing with her hair. She didn’t bother denying that something was bothering her, Tom could always see straight through her. 

Tom raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed. 

“Michael Prewett asked me to Hogsmeade with him.” The words tumbled from her mouth before she could stop them. 

“And, this is a bad thing?” Tom asked curiously. Malfoy had reported seeing the pair of them talking the previous day, but from what he said it didn’t seem like Rochford had been unhappy about it. 

“No! Not at all.” She shook her head vehemently and wrung her hands. 

“It’s just, the last time I tried to go into Hogsmeade… well, you know what happened.” She looked down, embarrassed. 

“I see” he said impassively. 

“I talked with Professor Merrythought about tactics to stop what happens to me,” she went on, determined to get it off her chest now she had started. 

“But he doesn’t think there’s much to be done other than trying to suppress the memories and remain calm. He insists that learning to repel dementors is far to advanced for me to even attempt.” She worked hard to keep the emotions out of her voice but it was hard to keep it from breaking. She didn’t want to be the freak that collapsed every time she tried to leave the grounds. 

The torches in the brackets by their library desk all started flickering at the same time and she took a deep breath, clearing her mind. They stopped. 

Tom had to stop himself rolling his eyes at the old Professor Merrythought. The fool had no idea who he was underestimating. It was a good thing he would be retiring in the next couple of years. 

“Don’t you think that method is worth trying?” He asked a little skeptically. He honestly found it a little difficult to imagine emotions so overwhelming that it couldn’t be suppressed. 

Ava shot him a scathing look. Tom raised his eyebrows and hid a smile. 

“I’ll think of something.” He offered, checking his watch and noticing it was nearly time for his meeting with Slughorn. 

“You will?” Ava asked in surprise, surveying his face for any sign of a joke. 

He shot her a look of his own, to ask if she was challenging his own abilities. She leaned back in her chair with her hands up. 

“Okay.” She replied. 

“Well, I will see you later.” Tom carefully rolled up his parchment and tucked it into his bag, his mind already focussed on his plan of attack with Slughorn. 

 

Ava knew she shouldn’t do it. Especially since Tom had just offered to help her without her even asking. But now the weight of the dementors was a little lighter on her mind, the curiosity about what he was really seeing Slughorn for burned bright. She just couldn’t help herself. 

Making her decision quickly, she slid her transfiguration homework back into her bag and stood up. The library was nearly empty as curfew was coming up so soon. Only a few overworked looking seventh years could be seen hunched over tables and prowling the bookshelves that late. 

Ava’s conviction carried her through the library doors and down two flights of stairs. She had reached the staircase that would take her down to the dungeons when she paused and bit her lip. She could still go to the common room and do her homework there. That was the better option. The safer one. But finding out whatever held Tom Riddle’s interest was far more appealing than playing it safe. He was up to something. 

Without much of a plan, Ava traced the route to Slughorn’s office, chewing her lip the whole time. She put her hair up into a messy bun at the back of her head as she walked to keep it from bothering her as she thought. 

She would have to use an amplifying charm through the wall of the office in order to hear what was going on inside; but then she ran the risk of anyone coming into the corridor hearing the conversation as well. There could be a way to it with her ear pressed to the wall and do the charm so that the sound travelled directly to that spot on the wall; but that would be more complicated. 

The closed door of Slughorn’s office taunted her while she thought. There wasn’t much time until curfew and Slughorn wasn’t likely to keep the boys late. She would have to go for the second option and hope for the best. 

Dropping her schoolbag to the floor, Ava pressed her fingertips against a spot on the stone wall level with her ear. She took a deep breath and whispered: "Sonorus."

While trying her best to keep the spell contained to that one spot. Like tuning a radio to the right frequency, sound quietly started to issue from the spot like a speaker. Ava pressed her ear against it and to her delight, found she could hear what was going on as though she was present inside the room herself. 

“What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn't, and your careful flattery of the people who matter -- thank you for the pineapple, by the way, you're quite right, it is my favorite --" Slughorn was talking merrily. Ava felt sure she knew who he was talking to and grinned. So Tom was trying to get something out of Slughorn. Bringing him his favourite was a dead give away by anyone’s standards. 

Several of the boys laughed quietly inside the room. "-- I confidently expect you to rise to Minister of Magic within twenty years. Fifteen, if you keep sending me pineapple, I have excellent contacts at the Ministry."

"I don't know that politics would suit me, sir," Tom’s voice sounded sugar sweet. "I don't have the right kind of background, for one thing.” Ava couldn’t pinpoint why, but Tom seemed to have put a lot of weight onto that statement, like he was referring to an inside joke. 

"Nonsense," said Slughorn briskly, "couldn't be plainer you come from decent Wizarding stock, abilities like yours. No, you'll go far, Tom, I’ve never been wrong about a student yet.”

A clock chimed and the room was silent for a second. 

"Good gracious, is it that time already? You'd better get going boys, or we'll all be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by in morrow or it’s detention. Same goes for you, Avery."

Ava could hear chairs scraping against the floor and let out a huff of annoyance. They hadn’t gotten to the crux of why Tom was there. Nothing had been said about what he was after. 

The door to the office opened just as Ava had slung her bag over her shoulder and turned to leave. 

“Rochford?” A voice called after her. Ava bit her lip nervously again. 

“Yes?” She asked innocently, turning around to face Avery, Lestrange and Malfoy standing with their arms folded by the newly closed door. 

“What are you doing here?” Malfoy asked suspiciously, looking between Ava and the door to the office. Ava hoped that they couldn’t hear the tiny continued stream of voices coming from the spelled wall. 

“I’m on my way back to the common room.” Ava said with a brilliant smile, making sure to meet each of their gazes one by one, daring them to contradict her. 

“Why?” She cocked her head at them, pulling her bag up further on her shoulder and deliberately brushing the skin of her neck with her fingertips. As she expected, Malfoy and Avery’s eyes drifted to follow her hand. Lestrange stated fixedly at the floor. 

“Would you mind if we walked you back?” Avery asked hastily, snapping himself out of the daze she’d put him in. Ava gave him a heart-stopping smile. 

“Of course not. Shall we go?” 

 

There was no way of knowing whether Malfoy, Avery or Lestrange had told Tom that she had been caught loitering outside of Slughorn’s office and she didn’t dare ask him. He hadn’t mentioned any ideas regarding the Hogsmeade trip or the dementors either. Ava noticed that Tom had drawn back into himself over the next few days, seemingly deep in contemplation. Even on prefect patrol he remained silent and Ava was forcibly reminded of the period over Christmas he had spent ignoring her.

During this period of quietness, Ava found herself quite pleased that she was on speaking terms with her other friends again. Their idle chatter and gossip during lessons and mealtimes helped keep her mind off of her fellow prefect. At least for the most part. 

Saturday arrived and with it, glorious sunshine. Erin had Ava’s outfit already laid out on her trunk when she woke up and was waiting for her impatiently to wash and dress so that she could start fussing over her long silvery hair. 

“I am not wearing that.” Ava laughed, looking at the extravagant dress Erin had picked out of her own wardrobe. Erin pouted. 

“But you’ll look so pretty!” She protested, holding the royal blue dress up for emphasis. 

“I’ll look like I’m going to a ball and stopped off at Hogsmeade en route.” Ava disagreed. 

“It is a bit much.” Cecilia pitched in, sitting up in bed and stretching. 

“Here, try this on for size.” Cecilia hopped out of bed and rummaged in her trunk and extracting a much more casual burgundy dress. She threw it at Ava who caught it deftly in one hand and examined it. 

“Thanks Ce,” she grinned, finding the burgundy number much more agreeable. 

“No problem.” Cecilia smiled back softly. 

Ava hastened to the bathroom to shower and change. She experimented with the little amount of makeup she had on offer and smiled in satisfaction at her long dark lashes and rose pink lips. 

“Finally!” Erin exclaimed when she emerged, pushing her down onto a chair. She raised her wand over Ava’s silvery locks and Ava jerked away in panic. 

“Relax, I’ve been practising.” Erin scolded, yanking her back into place. Erin worked diligently for a few minutes before letting Ava look. Her hair was styled in beautiful blown out curls. 

“Erin it’s beautiful. Thank you.” Ava smiled, brushing her fingertips over her hair. Her heart pulled a little at the fondness on Erin’s face. Erin really deserved a better friend. 

“Come on then, the sooner we get to breakfast, the sooner you get to go on your date.” Cecilia clapped her hands together. 

Ava felt a blush rising in her cheeks and excitement fill her chest. She was going out with Michael Prewett. The boy she had been crushing on for years from a distance. 

The only thing putting a damper on her spirits was the thought of getting past the dementors. She hadn’t told anyone, but nightmares of her parents death had been plaguing her since the last time she’d tried to venture into Hogsmeade. Tom hadn’t given her any indication that he had a plan to get her out of the grounds without her collapsing. 

As appealing as breakfast looked, Ava didn’t touch anything. Partially because nerves and excitement would have made it impossible to digest anything, partially because she was very aware of potentially staining the lovely dress Cecilia had lent her. 

Finally, students started to file out of the hall to line up by Mr Pringle to have their permission slips checked. Ava caught sight of the Prewett twins leaving together and Michael turned at the last second to send her a smile, obviously to let her know he’d see her there. Her stomach flipped. 

“Should we go?” Erin asked, her eyes also on the backs of the red-haired twins. 

“You can if you want. I need to wait for someone.” Ava replied, fiddling with a strand of her curled hair to avoid looking at Erin. Even though she was looking down, the look that Erin and Alphard exchanged across the table was virtually palpable. 

After a couple of seconds of silence Ava looked up. Alphard’s expression was set in a deep scowl, whereas Erin looked more pleading. They were having a silent conversation but the meaning couldn’t have been louder or clearer. 

Luckily - or not so luckily depending on who was being asked - Tom Riddle chose that moment to enter the hall. Ava immediately looked around, her eyes having been so attuned to the familiar dark haired boy over the past year. He raised his eyebrows at her before turning around and leaving again. Ava stood up. 

“Been summoned, have you?” Alphard spat before he was able to stop himself. Erin kicked him under the table. Ava gave him a withering look before flouncing away. Letting the rest of her friends walk along in her wake. 

Tom was hovering near the marble stairs with Avery and Nott. He shot her a look that told her not to come over and she sighed, slowing down to let her friends catch back up. There was a tense silence as they queued together, broken only by Felicia and Druella’s talking. 

Perhaps it was the quiet, but it seemed to take forever to reach the sun soaked grounds. Large butterflies seemed to have taken up residence in Ava’s stomach and it only served to make her more impatient on the walk. She couldn’t take the awkward silence anymore and broke off from her friends without a word, circling back to walk behind Tom, who was still in whispered conversation with Cael and Kaspian. She rolled her eyes at him on her way past and started walking alone a few feet behind the three of them. If he wanted to exclude her then fine. 

Tom let out of breath of agitation and fought an eye roll himself. She could be so impatient. 

As they approached the gates and the dementors gliding in front of them came into view, the air became steadily icier.

“Keep walking and don’t look back.” Tom instructed both of his companions and slowed down considerably, letting them pull far ahead of him. 

He heard Rochford gasp before he even turned to face her. Tom glanced backwards to see her slowing down, her hands starting to shake as she clutched at her head. He sighed and closed his eyes for a second before turning around and walking to her side. 

They weren’t even within five feet of the gates and she was clutching at her head, her unsteady breaths coming out in gasps. The chill in the air turned into an glacial bite. He didn’t know what exactly he had intended to do, his mind had been much further afield of late, but he knew this would happen. And he had seen panic attacks at the orphanage before. So he went with his gut feeling and said calmly; 

“Rochford” 

She shook her head harder, leaning forwards as the pressure in her head increased and the wind picked up around them. Despite her best efforts to force them back, images were barrelling to the forefront of her mind. Curses, shouting, blood. Tom gently took hold of both of her wrists and said in the same calm voice, 

“Avaline” 

Ava was so shocked to hear her first name coming from Tom Riddle that she looked up at him, her blue eyes over-large and watery. 

Still acting on his instinct he stepped even closer to her, releasing one of her wrists so that he could hold her hair back from her face, since it was being blown around by the wind. 

“I’m going to count to ten. I want you to focus on my breathing.” He told her loudly over the wind, looking her dead in the eye and refusing to let her break eye contact. 

Ava nodded and tried to stop hyperventilating, Tom noticed that just talking to her calmly had her muscles starting to relax against him. 

“One” He took a slow, deliberate breath in and took a step backwards. 

“Two” Ava could feel his chest move as she was pressed against his tall frame and let him pull her along. 

“Three” he let the breath out slowly, extremely aware of the wind dropping around them. He let go of her other wrist and let his arm circle around her waist, pressing into her back. 

“Four” Another breath, another step. 

“Five” Ava could feel her shoulders relaxing from their hunched position. The noise in her mind was still loud but it was easier to ignore. Easier to concentrate on Tom. 

“Six” her lungs were filling properly now, deeply, slowly, fully. Another step. 

“Seven” she swallowed and blinked, keeping concentrated on Tom’s voice. 

“Eight” now only her hands were still quivering and the pair of them were a good few metres away from the gates. 

“Nine” Her head felt better now the blood was no longer pounding in her ears. 

“Ten” With a final deep breath, Ava closed her eyes and rested her forehead on Tom’s collarbone, exhausted. The memories were gone, they had receded far back into her mind and were no longer making her relive them. 

It took a moment for her to realise how completely awkward this must be for him. She was leaning most of her weight on him and his hand was still pressing gently into her lower back. Even though she was at ease there, in that moment, she knew that Tom Riddle didn’t like to be touched at the best of times. She forced herself backwards, putting a good three feet of distance between them. 

“I am so sorry” she blushed furiously, feeling not just her face growing hot but her neck too.  
She looked over his shoulder to see if any of the other students had witnessed what had happened, but luckily they had all moved on ahead. 

Tom inclined his head but didn’t say anything; instead opting to turn on his heel and walking to catch up to everyone else. Ava followed suit, keeping her eyes trained on the little village ahead rather than trying to make conversation. 

She felt incredibly strange. She heard Tom speed ahead, taking long strides in the hope that he’d be able to ignore their conversation and catch up with Kaspian and Cael. 

Ava watched his back and her face burned with embarrassment again. She still felt clammy all over and surreptitiously wiped her sweaty hands on her robes. The way her heart was pounding in her chest, someone would have thought she’d just run a marathon. But she wasn’t so sure it was beating so hard because of the dementors. 

The thought of going through that experience again wasn’t one she wanted to dwell on. Ava wasn’t sure if she could ever look at Tom in the eye again without dying of embarrassment. So, she decided to put it from her mind and not let the idea of it hang over her day. 

Michael was waiting for her right by the first shop on the main road, leaning casually against the building and soaking in the morning sunshine. 

“Hey there.” He smiled easily at her, ruffling up his red hair. 

“Hi.” Ava grinned back, the butterflies from earlier returning in full force. 

“I’m thinking Honeydukes, what say you?” Michael asked, pretending to look thoughtful. 

“I think that sounds like a great idea.” 

“Perfect!” Michael offered her his arm. “My lady.” 

Ava took it, unable to wipe the grin from her face. 

“Good sir.” 

The pair of them spent a solid amount of time in Honeydukes, trying out all of the samples that they had on offer. Including a chocoball that made Ava’s laugh go up ridiculously high in pitch. Every time she giggled set the both of them off laughing again. After Honeydukes they picked up some ice creams from a vendor further up the road and went for a lovely walk around the whole village. The cloudless day couldn’t have been any better for it.

Occasionally Ava caught sight of one of her girlfriends peering at them from round a corner or a shop window and she quickly herded Michael away before he could notice each time. The thought of him catching them spying was mortifying. 

Finally, they both agreed that spending the rest of the day by the lake would be a good idea, so that they could enjoy the sun but have some shade from the trees. Michael was about to lead her towards the path back up to school when Ava was struck by a sudden idea. Michael and Polly were always popping out of secret passages all over the school. What were the chances that he knew one to get back in? 

“Michael,” she said, tugging on his arm to stop him going any further. 

“Yeah?” He asked, confused by the suddenly serious look on her face. 

“I don’t suppose you, well, if you know any other way into school?” She asked nervously, twisting her fingers together. 

A slow smile spread across Michael’s face. 

“I can’t believe Miss Prefect wants to sneak back into school.” He chuckled, running a hand through his hair to muss it up. 

“It’ll just be quicker if we don’t have to go past the dementors.” Ava explained hurriedly, a blush rising up her cheeks. 

“It’s okay. I do so happen to know of such a route.” Michael tapped his nose. 

“You just have to promise not to tell anyone.” 

“I promise!” Ava insisted, relief flooding her system. 

“Come on then.” He gently took her hand and lead her back to Honeydukes. Ava didn’t complain about the hand holding, but did inconspicuously take hers back when they reached the inside of the shop. 

Despite it being early afternoon by now, the shop was still bustling with Hogwarts students and the staff had their hands full. 

“This way,” Michael breathed in her ear, ducking down low and slipping behind the counter and out of the door behind it. She followed suit, her heart beating fast and hoping against hope that they weren’t caught. They weren’t. 

The door led down to a dusty cellar packed with boxed presumably full of more sweets for the store above. Michael counted the tiles on the floor very carefully before selecting the right one and prying it up with his fingertips. 

“After you,” He said, gesturing for her to go ahead of him. Ava peered down into the dark passage with unease. Michael laughed. 

“It’s fine, I’ve done this a thousand times.” 

Ava nodded, took a deep breath and climbed down into the dark. Michael was quick on her tail and lit his wand. 

“It’s a bit of a walk.” He said apologetically. Ava smiled and took his hand again. 

“I don’t mind.” 

“Who’d have thought, Ava Rochford the Prefect, secretly likes to live on the wild side.” Michael teased her as they began to walk. 

He wasn’t lying, the walk was long. However, it didn’t feel too bad because she was in great company. There wasn’t a second that it got boring or quiet with Michael Prewett, he had too many jokes, too many interesting stories to tell. 

When they finally reached the other end, Michael went first to check the coast was clear. He climbed up a rough looking slide and stuck a thumbs up back down to show it was good to follow. Unfortunately, the tunnel had left it’s mark on the dress Ava had borrowed from Cecilia. She hopped out of the tunnel, with the help of Michael’s outstretched arm, which to her surprise was out of the hump of the one-eyed witch statue on the third floor. 

Ava tried her best to brush the dress off but the dust and general dirt wasn’t budging. 

“Here.” Michael waved his wand and the dress cleaned itself, looking even better than when she had first put it on. 

“Thanks.” Ava smiled up at him and noticing he was a lot closer than before. 

“No problem.” He breathed, leaning down with the obvious intent to kiss her. Ava’s eyes widened in panic and she hastily turned her head so that his lips met her flushed cheek. 

“Um,” she began awkwardly when he pulled back, her cheeks fiery red. 

“I think I read that situation wrongly.” Michael admitted rubbing the back of his neck. His cheeks were also bright red, clashing brilliantly with his hair. 

“It’s okay.” Ava hurriedly assured him. 

“I just - I don’t think-“ she didn’t know what on earth she was saying. Michael Prewett, the boy she had been crushing on for years had just tried to kiss her. She should have been jumping for joy, more importantly she should have let him kiss her. 

But a horrendous thought had crossed her mind as he had leaned in that she couldn’t shake. For a second, she had imagined he was taller, dark haired and had razor sharp cheekbones. As he had tried to kiss her, Ava couldn’t stop herself wishing that he was Tom Riddle.


	23. The Life and Death of Myrtle Warren

Ava went down to breakfast the following Monday to be greeted by her owl Strix only a few minutes after she sat down. 

“Haven’t seen you for a while.” Alphard cooed at the owl affectionately, letting her steal some bacon from his plate. 

“I don’t really get many letters.” Ava explained, untying the parchment from the spotted owl’s leg. 

“It is nice to see you though.” She added for the owl’s benefit, running her fingertips over her smooth feathers. Strix ruffled them happily. Ava’s heart swelled as she looked at the bird because she was such a strong reminder of Lachlan. They had been told the day before though that the mandrake draught would be ready in just over a week and those who were laying petrified in the infirmary would be woken up. After all the time that had passed since he’d been petrified, Ava was glad there was only a week to go. She could handle a week.

The envelope in her hands was sealed with the Rochford family crest and Ava furrowed her eyebrows. She had no idea what her Aunt would be writing to her for, she only ever usually sent money for her birthday and Christmas. 

She carefully opened the envelope and unfolded the parchment. 

‘ _Dearest Avaline,_

_I am writing to inform you that your grandfather has passed away. His funeral is to be held ten days from today in London, if you wish to attend, please reply swiftly so that I may contact the headmaster to arrange your travel from school._

_Regards,_

_Hestia.’_

Her Aunt had never been the most conversational or informal of people. Ava chewed on the inside of her cheek as she read the short letter again. She hadn’t been particularly close with her grandfather - both of her grandparents could barely stand the sight of her since her parents had died - but something in the pit of her stomach told her that she ought to go. She could still just about remember the kindly old man with crinkles around his eyes that had bought her her first potions kit as a child. Virtually setting her off on her ambition to become a healer. 

“What does it say?” Alphard asked, intrigued by the contemplative expression on Ava’s face. Ava looked up, surprised he was still paying her attention before smiling easily, folding up the parchment and putting it in her pocket. 

“Nothing important.” 

Again, she found herself lying to those closest to her for no reason at all. She shook her head a little and sighed. What was happening to her? 

“Are you coming to Charms?” Erin asked her, having only just arrived at the table with a generally mussed appearance. Almost half of her dark hair was spilling out of her usually tight ballerina bun. 

“Yeah. Sleep well?” Ava teased, throwing her bag over her shoulder and standing up from the bench while Erin scowled and grabbed some toast. 

“Overslept more like.” She grumbled, kissing Alphard on the cheek quickly before the two girls walked out of the hall. 

“I did wake you up before I left.” Ava chided her. 

The day passed slowly. Many things were weighing on Ava’s mind at once. The exams started the very next day and lasted for a solid week. Nearly all of her lessons were spent doing quiet individual revision or going over spells and enchantments the teachers thought would most likely come up. Considering she had spent the whole school year stressing about these exams and the importance of her doing well so that she could get onto the NEWT courses she wanted - Ava found herself duly unbothered by the OWLs. 

It wasn’t that she felt overly prepared, even though she was, it was more that her mind was mostly occupied by other things and this bothered her. She should care more that her first two exams were tomorrow, but for some reason she just didn’t. 

The kind of things her brain didn’t mind dwelling on was a certain dark haired Slytherin prefect, who she caught glimpses of throughout the day. She still hadn’t explained to him how she had made it back to school after Hogsmeade without him but he hadn’t asked. 

She also thought hard about her grandfather’s funeral. Although Ava wasn’t particularly fussed on going, a nagging sensation in her stomach told her that she should consider it. It was her father’s father after all, wouldn’t he have wanted her to go? 

 

Ava skipped lunch to go to the library to try and force herself to revise. It was made impossible as soon as Tom sat down at the table with her but she had secretly been hoping that would happen. 

“I’m so tired of revising.” She told him, slouching back in her chair and glancing at his profile. 

Tom ‘hm’ed thoughtfully and put his bag back down, from where he had been about to take out his things. Truthfully he didn’t need the extra revision time, he was more than prepared or every exam and was fully expecting Outstanding’s in every subject. 

“Well, if you wanted to go to the room of requirement…” He said slowly, looking around at Ava’s expression. Her blue eyes were wide with worry and she was biting down on her lower lip. It was one of those rare occasions that she looked at him completely wide open, dead on, without any restraints or barriers. Tom would be lying if he said it wasn’t a fascinating look, especially since he knew she didn’t dare give it to anyone else. 

Ava thought over the suggestion carefully. She was still shellshocked from their last practise when she had knocked the wall down onto Erin. As much as she wanted to stop whoever was behind these attacks, Ava really didn’t think she could face hurting someone again, even by accident. 

“I’m not sure I can do it.” She admitted quietly, breaking the connection she had with Tom’s deep hazel eyes and looking down at the wooden table. 

“I don’t think I could hurt anybody else after Erin. Even whoever is attacking people.” 

Tom frowned a little at this admission. He had somewhat hoped that once she had hurt someone for the first time and seen no real damage maybe her morals might have been swayed. Obviously injuring her friend had had the opposite effect. 

“You don’t have to practise any offensive spells.” He improvised quickly, knowing he needed to bring her confidence back up. 

“I’ve actually had an idea for a while that I thought you could try.” 

Ava perked up at this and sat up straight. 

“What is it?” 

“I’ll tell you when we get there.” He shot her a quick smile that made it a little difficult for Ava to breathe properly. There was no way she’d say no after that. She gathered her things from the table and they walked to the seventh floor. 

Their usual room waited for them behind the apparently blank stone wall, the armchairs and the bookcases and the huge, wide window. 

“The other day I noticed-“ Tom started as soon at they entered the room and the door shut behind them. 

“When you were… not very happy with your friends,” he was walking over to one of the bookshelves and gave her a quick look to check that she wasn’t offended by his rather delicate description of the mood she had been in that day. 

Ava raised an eyebrow at him to continue. 

“In Ancient Runes, Black sent you a note and the weather outside the window started to change.” Tom had extracted a slim book from the shelf and rifled through it to find the right page. 

“I think you may have unknowingly performed an atmospheric charm. They’re difficult to cast and even harder to maintain.” He found the page marked ‘atmospheric charms’ and held it out for her to examine. 

“And you want to see if I can do it under control.” Ava finished his train of thought for him, already skimming over the words on the page. She couldn’t remember casting any kind of spell on purpose, but lots of things happened out of her control when she was upset. 

Tom nodded once and watched her read. Her pink lips occasionally mouthed the word she was reading and her nose crinkled the further she read. Ava turned the page, immersed and brushed her long hair over one shoulder to keep it out of her way. 

Clearing his mind quickly, Tom walked away from her to sit in once of the armchairs. He checked his watch and noted that they only had about twenty more minutes of lunch left. He couldn’t afford to spend his study period there afterwards, he had other plans for that day. 

“Okay, I’ll give it a shot.” Ava said, snapping the book closed and throwing it onto the other, empty armchair. 

“You think I’ve done it before anyway.” 

Tom waved a hand towards the window without standing up, gesturing for her to start if she wanted. 

Ava faced the window and the blue sky, surveying it carefully. There were a few, sparse clouds scudding across it, but she was certain she could make it pour if she wanted.

It was a risk, but she felt like this was one of those times she needed to use her magic to will something into happening. The spells in the book were so specific they wouldn’t produce the power she needed to cause a storm, they would limit her. 

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and reached deep, feeling her magic dance on her skin. Raising her hands to face the window, she could feel the heat of the midday sun on her palms. Ava concentrated on that warmth, on the sun’s rays, and focussed hard on blocking it out. She pictured clouds gathering in the sky outside, imagined them growing darker and denser. She felt magic flowing out of her as she let herself breathe deep and think about the letter from her Aunt this morning, about hurting Erin and how much that was still hurting her. 

Tom sat up straighter in the armchair, his eyes fixed on the sky outside. The handful of clouds were drifting closer together, slowly moving in front of the sun and casting shadows on the grounds below. 

Once the first few clouds had converged, they grew steadily, Tom could watch the sunlight on the ground receding as the clouds blocked it out. 

Ava remained completely stationary and silent with her lips slightly parted. Tom could feel the charge in the air he always felt when she was doing magic, it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. 

A couple of minutes passed, but Tom wasn’t bored. On the contrary, he was engrossed in watching her work. No sliver of blue was visible on the horizon any more, all the way to the distant mountains. The clouds were getting darker and a drizzle began. From the window Tom could see the trees of the forbidden forest waving in a strong wind. 

Her mind had remained very safely where she wanted it, powering the spell with her mixed emotions about the letter and the guilt she felt over Erin, both very well explored emotions to her. However, thinking of her grandfather’s funeral, Ava’s train of thought suddenly jumped to her father. She didn’t think of the doting man that she knew, singing french lullabies to her as a baby, she thought of what the dementors has brought to the surface of her mind. 

The door blasted of it’s hinges. Her dad’s shouts, her mother’s scream and curses, so many curses. 

Tom saw the clouds swirling dangerously and the rain became torrential, pounding heavily on the windows and chilling the room. 

“Avaline,” he said, standing up behind her. 

Her eyes stayed closed and her brow was furrowed. She was clearly mentally far away from the room. 

“Stay in control.” He encouraged gently, as lightning dashed across the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance, remembering the effect that physical touch had had on her with the dementors. 

He didn’t want to touch her hands and interrupt the spell, she needed to learn how to get a handle on the magic without outright stopping it. Hesitantly he slipped his hands onto her waist and gripped lightly, so that she could feel he was there. 

“You are in control.” He whispered, feeling her tense shoulders relax a little against his chest. 

If she hadn’t been neck deep in traumatising memories, Tom’s proximity would have put her off of the spell she was doing. However, his voice and his touch were helping her ground herself, just like they had by the school gates. 

Tom’s fingertips traced circles onto her waist and Ava was able to clear her mind. She thought only of the indescribable feeling that the boy behind her gave her. The rain returned to a drizzle and the clouds stopped swirling. It was still a storm, but it was her storm, she was in control of it. 

Ava opened her eyes a little to see and smiled. Behind her Tom was smiling too, a chilling smile that twisted his features and made his hazel eyes flash scarlet. 

 

 

 

When Ava walked into Divination, everyone was talking about the freak storm that had come out of nowhere. The clouds outside were slowly clearing now that Ava wasn’t maintaining the spell and she couldn’t hide her grin at being the secret reason behind everyone’s chatter. 

“You look awfully happy about something.” Erin said suspiciously as Ava sat down opposite her on a small pouffe. 

“I like the rain.” Ava shrugged, still unable to wipe the smile off of her face. 

“Well I hate it.” Erin pouted, leaning her chin on her hand. 

“It was probably the humidity outside that brought it on.” 

“Probably.” Ava agreed. At that moment Madame Cutteridge called the class to attention to tell them about the exam on Thursday and they were both distracted. 

“I can’t believe we’re reading palms for the exam!” Erin cried as soon as they were out of the tower room an hour later. 

“I’m okay at literally everything except palms, palms just don’t speak to me!” 

“I know, it’s rubbish.” Ava said sympathetically. She knew that this exam was a loss no matter what they were examined on. Luckily, Divination wasn’t critical for her ambition to become a healer. 

It was a long walk down to Potions from North Tower and the girls only just made it through the door as the bell rang. Slughorn gave them a playfully scolding wag of the finger and they giggled, taking their places behind their cauldrons. 

“Today we will be working on something I am absolutely certain will come up on the exam.” Slughorn said imperiously, waving his hand at the chalkboard of instructions. 

“It is a very fiddly little potion, the strengthening solution, so I expect you all to pay extra care to what you are doing.” 

Because they were working individually to prepare for the exam, Ava did not get much of a chance to speak to any of her other friends as they worked. Alphard had his tongue stuck out in concentration as he weighed pine needles and Felicia and Druella were completely silent as they focussed on their work. 

A glance towards the front of the classroom told her that Tom was - of course - leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the class after only ten minutes. In the past this may have made her scoff, especially since she was so close on his tail with her own potion, but now it just made her smile down at her own cauldron. 

Halfway through the lesson, Professor Merrythought burst through the doors of the potions classroom out of nowhere, whispered something to Professor Slughorn urgently and hurried out just as quickly. Professor Slughorn stood, apparently shell shocked, at the front of the room for almost a solid minute with his mouth hanging open. Then he straightened himself up and rubbed his moustache nervously.

"Everyone must return to their common rooms at once. Leave everything where it is, I will clear it up for you later." 

This request was met with a great number of bemused expressions but absolutely no movement. 

"Well what are you waiting for? Go, go!" Slughorn shooed them from the dungeon. Ava picked up her bag and Erin grabbed her hand to pull her from the room. 

"What do you think's going on?" Erin asked her as they followed the herd of students out of he classroom into the corridor. The Slytherins were fortunate; their common room was only a corridor away, the Gryffindors had to walk all the way up to their tower. Many of the students with the Gryffindor lion on their robes could be heard grumbling as they trudged in the opposite direction to those with the Slytherin serpent embellished on theirs. 

"I have absolutely no idea." Ava replied nervously. She was letting Erin pull her along but looking around for Tom who seemed to have stayed behind. Ava bit her lip in worry, maybe he was asking Slughorn what was happening? 

"There's probably been another attack." Alphard said solemnly as he appeared on Erin's other side. 

"My Dad said the governors aren't happy about the number of kids in the hospital wing already." 

“Surely they wouldn’t pull us out of class just for that. Besides, there hasn’t been one for ages.” Erin scoffed. She let Ava go once they had settled themselves on a large sofa in the common room. The best seats by the fire were being occupied by a very put-out looking group of seventh years who were whispering harshly about the effect this interruption was likely to have on their exams. 

Seeing the intense worry on every face set Ava’s teeth on edge. Something felt very very wrong. It was in the air and invisible but everyone seemed to sense it. She could feel her heartbeat rising in panic as the common room continued to fill up with students that had been sent from class. The room was far more packed than usual and very noisy due to the unusual circumstances for which they’d been banished there.

The squashy sofa she was in the middle of was suffocating, as were Erin and Alphard pressed either side of her. The other girls had turned up as well and were all sat on the floor in a semi-circle so that they could face each other and talk. But Ava didn’t feel like talking, she felt like she was drowning. Something was definitely terribly wrong. 

A slow silence started to spread across the room, starting nearest the door. Everyone looked round to see a tall, raven haired boy standing with his arms folded and a disapproving expression on his face. Even the seventh years by the fire fell quiet. The shiny prefect’s badge glinted on Tom’s chest as his dark eyes roved across the room and his eyes locked on Ava’s; giving her a look that clearly asked why she hadn’t been taking control of the room. 

A warm flush stole across Ava’s pale cheeks and she left the sofa to join him by the door. 

“Although the circumstances of us being here is unorthodox, the normal common room rules apply.” Tom said superiorly, looking around at his quiet audience as Ava glided to his side. 

“So noise should be kept to a minimum.” 

Ava’s heartbeat, which had already been on the rise due to the overcrowding and worry she felt, was ready to beat out of her chest now with the whole houses’ eyes on them. 

Before she could help it, sparks crackled between her fingertips, scalding her hands. She folded them together behind her back and bit her lip, hoping nobody saw. Her heart was still pounding loud in her ears and magic continued to spark between her fingers. 

Suddenly, a cool, reassuring hand had taken one of her own and interlaced their fingers. Ava jumped at the touch but didn’t pull away. Tom didn’t even flinch as a particularly sharp burst of sparks seared into his knuckles where he held her hand. 

“Are you alright?” He murmured, sounding uncharacteristically concerned. Ava noticed that everyone in the room had stopped looking to both of them and were back in their own - quieter - conversations. Although her group of friends by the sofa hadn’t looked away. 

Ava looked back at Tom’s hazel eyes and nodded slowly. He dragged his thumb across the back of her hand soothingly and she was once again surprised at how nice he was being. 

“A little overwhelmed, I think.” She responded in an equally low tone. She was already feeling better now that the noise was down and she had a face to look at that was calm and stable instead of anxious. 

Tom dipped his head minutely to study her expression, as though to double check that she wasn’t holding anything back. Seeming satisfied, he nodded back curtly and gestured towards the group by the sofa. 

“Maybe you should sit back with your friends.” 

Knowing that meant that he wanted to talk to Avery, Lestrange and the rest of his little gang, Ava sighed and agreed, squeezing his hand lightly before letting go as a silent thank you for calming her down. 

 

 

It wasn’t until the next morning that the rumours were confirmed. At breakfast Professor Dippet rose sombrely from his seat and the hall fell quiet at once. 

“It is with the deepest regret that I must inform you a student was taken from us yesterday afternoon.” He began, his words reverberating around the hall. The silence of the students was so absolute that anyone outside would have thought Dippet was addressing an empty room. 

“Myrtle Warren from third year has passed away. My condolences go out to Ravenclaw house and those who were closest to her most particularly. Every effort is being put into catching the culprit behind this attack and I would like to remind each one of you to remain vigilant and cautious. Thank you.” 

He resumed his seat, but it took a few seconds for the chatter to start back up. 

“That poor girl.” Felicia whispered. 

“She wasn’t very popular though was she.” Erin commented brashly, loading her plate with another serving of omelette. 

“Erin! That’s an awful thing to say!” Cecilia reprimanded her. Erin shrugged but was too busy eating to reply. 

Ava sat quietly. She had never had much to do with Myrtle Warren, in fact it had taken her a second to dredge up an image of the girls face. Acne-ridden, bespectacled, young. A stab of guilt went through her. It was common knowledge that Myrtle wasn’t well liked but the way people were talking about her even in death was abhorrent. 

She could hear snippets of conversation all around her. 

“-Not much of a loss-“ 

“-What does this mean for the rest of us-“ 

“-At least it was only Myrtle-“ 

Ava stood up from the table suddenly, sending the bench she was sitting on juddering backwards. 

“Ava?” Erin asked, concerned at the look on her best friend’s face. 

“I don’t feel very well, I think-“ Ava didn’t get to finish, clutching one hand to her mouth and one to her stomach she ran from the hall. She made it into the nearest girls toiled without being sick but heaved into the sink, clutching the sides of it so hard her hands turned white. 

If she had made Myrtle’s life a little less of a misery, if she had been brave enough to try and stop these attacks, if she could have done anything at all. It was like Lachlan all over again. She dry heaved into the sink for another minute before sinking onto the ground, cold and shaking. She hadn’t noticed the path of destruction she’d made on her way into the bathroom, cubicles were bent in on themselves, one of the lines of sinks had been all but obliterated and the tiles on the walls were all cracked and falling from the walls. 

A knock sounded on the door. Ava looked up from her position curled up on the floor, her arms around her knees, afraid of someone coming in and seeing what she had done. 

“It’s me.” She recognised Tom’s low, calm voice. 

Ava waved her hand at the door and it swung open long enough to allow him entry before slamming behind him again. She watched, her head rested on her knees as he took in the damage she had done. 

“What’s upset you?” He asked eventually, pulling his wand from his pocket and using non-verbal magic to right everything she had destroyed in the room. 

“I don’t know, just being silly I suppose.” Ava replied quickly, averting her gaze from his and staring at the wall. She remained tense so that he wouldn’t see her hands shake. 

“Well if being silly demolishes bathrooms then I’d say we still have a long way to go.” His attempt at humour was lost on her and he didn’t like it. Especially since he tried to be humorous on such few occasions. 

“A girl _died._ ” Ava said, finally looking at him with watery eyes. 

“And I was worried about learning a few offensive spells in case I hurt the-the monster who’s behind it.” 

Tom frowned a little. 

“Were you friends with her?” He asked carefully, unable to fully comprehend why the girl was as upset as she was. Her face was flushed and her eyes were puffy and bloodshot. 

“No but that doesn’t make any difference to how I feel about it.” Ava said, wiping her face and looking back down. 

“How do you feel about it?” Tom asked as tactfully as he could, needing some clarification on the matter. 

Ava thought for a second before replying. 

“Guilty.” 

Tom clenched his teeth in displeasure. She was going to have to learn. 


	24. The Real Monster of Slytherin

The exams were cancelled. Every single person in the school was on high alert. Teacher’s were walking their students from class to class so the whole day was passing much slower than usual as every lesson started ten minutes late. 

"I really thought that whoever is behind all this would have been caught by now.” Erin said sadly as everyone sat down for lunch. 

“Me too.” Ava agreed, pushing her food around her plate without eating it. She had only remembered the night before that the love potion prank she had played on Cepheus near the start of the year had also involved Myrtle. She felt like the worst person in the world. 

“I’m going to go to the bathroom, I’ll be back.” Ava told the table, pushing her plate away and standing up. She didn’t really consider that students weren’t supposed to go wandering by themselves - even prefect patrols had been cancelled in favour of the teachers checking the school at night. 

Ava walked out of the great hall, rubbing her temples vigorously. She was trying hard to squash all of the emotions in her chest but it was so hard, everything was overwhelming her. Avaline Rochford had never been much of a believer in fate, but later on she could not deny that there was any other reason she decided to go up to the second floor, intending to walk in a long circle so that her friends would believe she really had gone to the toilets. 

She wandered along the empty corridor, enjoying the silence that enveloped her, the only sound being that of her shoes on the stone floor. She felt able to breathe a little better in the deserted hallway. 

It was near the last classroom before the staircase that she heard it. A strange hissing sound. The noise hadn’t been quiet but she had never heard anything like it before. It was animalistic and strange. Ava spun on her heel, peering along the corridor for the source. Then it happened again, but this time it sounded different, lower, a slightly different lilt to it. 

One door on from the classroom she was standing by was the girls toilets where Myrtle had… where Myrtle had died. The students had been forbidden to enter it since she had been found, so that the teachers could search it thoroughly for any clues about her murderer, but just then the door stood ajar. 

Ava crept closer, her heart starting to pound very quickly. Another strange sound was coming from the room, like something heavy being dragged along the floor. Ava peered into the gap before reeling backwards, her hand over her mouth. 

She had seen a massive… something on the floor of the bathroom. Ava had only caught a glimpse of a few feet of a huge serpentine body slithering across the grey stone floor. There was another loud foreign hissing noise and she backed away further, bumping into the opposite wall. 

The glass in the window above her head cracked with her fear, forming a large spiderweb shaped break which grew every second. 

The sound of breaking glass rung out loud and all of the sounds in the bathroom ceased. Then somebody, a boy, said something and there was another guttural hiss. 

Her adrenaline finally kicked in, Ava raced away from the bathroom. She ran blindly, skidding around a corner, grasping the rough stone wall with her fingertips to maintain her balance. She nearly toppled down the stairs at the speed she ran down them, only stopping when she was back outside of the great hall. 

Still breathing hard, Ava turned to look behind her, sure that whatever monster had been on the second floor could smell her fear, that it was after her.

“Ava, there you are.” Alphard had just come out of the hall, concern etched onto his face. 

“Are you alright? You were gone for ages.” He took in her flushed face and fast breathing. 

“Me? I’m fine, completely fine.” Ava babbled, running her hands over her hair to smooth it out and trying to regulate her breathing. The suits of armour on either side of the doors groaned and she noticed their chest plates glowing red with heat. 

“I just, scared myself on the walk back.” She lied, forcing a smile onto her face and clenching her fists in the pocket of her robes. Sparks were flying across her knuckles again, but it was easy to hide. 

“You probably shouldn’t have gone by yourself.” Alphard said, looking around the entrance hall nervously and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. 

“One of us should have gone with you. I’m sorry darling.” He rubbed her arm comfortingly and she smiled again, willing her heart rate to slow down so that she could catch a breath. 

“I’m fine, just being silly.” The pair of them went and sat back down at the table. Ava cast an eye out for Tom; she had become so used to letting him help calm her down, but he was nowhere to be seen. His gang of fifth and sixth year boys were a little way down the table, whispering conspiratorially to one another. It was a little unusual that he was the only one missing from the group, but he could just be skipping lunch to study. 

Ava felt a pull in her stomach. Tom was the only person that she wanted to talk to about what she had just seen. She couldn’t explain why but she just could not bring it up to her other friends, not that they gave her much opportunity to cut into their conversation, all of the girls were avidly discussing the relationship that had recently started between the head boy and girl. 

Ancient Runes was straight after lunch and Professor Sillious came round to pick everyone up from their tables to walk them to the classroom. Since there were so few of them - especially since Tom was absent - it didn’t take nearly as long as some of her other classes. 

“Since the exam has been cancelled,” Professor Sillious told them on the walk up to the classroom from the entrance hall. 

“I thought we could do a quiz instead so that all of your hard work this year hasn’t gone to waste.” 

At this, Alphard’s mouth immediately opened but Professor Sillious cut him off: 

“No Mister Black, these will not count as your OWL grades. We will have to speak to Dippet about what will happen about those. I suspect they shall be postponed until the attacker has been caught.” 

Ava and Alphard exchanged a look, close to rolling their eyes at the professor’s assumptive behaviour but they refrained. 

Tom was already waiting in the classroom when the others entered and Ava breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of him. At that moment she wanted nothing more than the steady, calming presence he gave her. 

Professor Sillious placed the quizzes in front of them and conjured an hourglass to sit at the front of the room. 

“No talking,” she instructed them, before sitting behind her desk and getting on with some work of her own. 

Ava couldn’t sit there and take the quiz without telling Tom what had happened, she felt like she was going to burst keeping it to herself. She gave his hand a sharp prod with the end of her quill so that he looked up at her. 

“I saw something.” She mouthed silently at him. He gave her a look of confusion. Ava glanced up at Professor Sillious, who was still bent over her work before tucking her hair behind her ear and trying again. 

“I saw something.” She mouthed, exaggerating the letters. 

“What?” He mouthed back, his eyebrows furrowed together. 

Ava shook her head, unable to really put it into words. She didn’t have any idea what _it_ was after all. She scribbled on the corner of her parchment for him to see.

‘ _I saw something in the second floor bathroom.’_

She watched his face carefully for his response. She could have sworn that his pallid complexion paled, but it was hard to tell. 

‘ _What did you see?’_ He wrote back in elegant, loopy writing on the corner of his own parchment. 

‘ _I’m not sure.’_ She bit her lip as she wrote this, knowing it was a stupid answer. 

Tom’s jaw tensed and he seemed to be pressing his quill down harder onto his parchment that before. 

‘ _What do you mean?’_

If Ava didn’t know any better she would say he seemed angry. But she couldn’t think why he would possibly have any reason to be angry at her for not knowing exactly what it was she saw. 

She wrote back: 

_‘It was massive. Kind of like a snake.’_

Tom stared at that for a long time before writing again. 

_‘Were you by yourself?’_

Ava was a little confused by the question but nodded when he glanced up at her. 

He scribbled another message, his handwriting getting untidier. 

_‘You shouldn’t be wandering around alone.’_

She looked down at the desk at that, knowing it was true. But something it her heart swelled at the thought that he was worried about her and that’s why he was getting angry. She tried to mentally kick herself into some reason but it wouldn’t go away. He cared. 

They didn’t speak again but Ava felt a lot more calm having got it off her chest. She tried to dash off answers to the quiz, but given her conversation with Tom had taken up nearly ten minutes, she wasn’t able to finish it. Of course, he handed his in complete. 

Once they were out of the classroom, Ava sped ahead of Alphard, giving him an apologetic look as she walked past, so that she could speak to Tom properly. 

“Do you think I should tell a teacher?” She pressed him immediately at they rounded a corner on the way to Defence Against the Dark Arts. 

Tom frowned in thought and didn’t look at her. 

“Are you sure about what you saw?” He asked her, the back of his hand brushing her own as they walked. 

“I’m sure I saw something.” Ava insisted, rubbing her head in an attempt to remember better. The fear had scrubbed most of the details away. 

“I just don’t know what it was.” 

“Well, if you think it would be of any use to the teachers in their search then of course you should say something.” Tom said carefully. He was counting on the fact that she seemed to have witnessed very little. What were the chances that he was nearly discovered by the very girl he needed to keep close? 

“But… It’s got to be better than nothing, hasn’t it?” She asked uncertainly. 

“I mean,” Tom began, pretending to think it over. 

“They already know that someone was attacked there. They know the monster has been there before.” 

“I think I might have heard a voice though.” Ava said, pausing in their walk. Something had jogged her memory, but she didn’t know what. 

“A boy. There was a boy in there.” 

“Did you see anybody?” He asked sharply, looking her dead in the eye and taking hold of her shoulders when she didn’t respond. 

“Avaline, did you see anybody? Did you hear a voice?” 

Ava stared past his shoulder as she thought. There was that heavy slithering sound, strange hisses. She thought that she heard a boy but it could have been anything mixed up in those hisses. 

“I- I really couldn’t say.” She stuttered, looking into his hazel eyes and noticing that they were more green that day. 

“There were lots of weird noises. It could have been a voice, it might not have been. If I hadn’t been so frightened I would remember better.” She finished, irritated with herself for not remembering properly. They could have potentially caught the heir of Slytherin if she had just gritted her teeth and opened that door. 

“That’s not your fault.” Tom said, trying to hide his relief. He squeezed her shoulders briefly before letting them go and continuing to walk.

“Are you still coming to Defence Against the Dark Arts?” He asked, looking down the corridor to where stragglers were filtering through to the classroom. 

“Yeah, I’m coming.” Ava replied, falling back into step with him. 

She was conflicted the whole way through the lesson. From talking with Tom she realised that she really wasn’t sure about what she’d seen in the first place. And the teacher’s would grill her worse than he did. Besides, what would they stand to gain from what she had seen, Tom was right, they already knew the monster had been in that bathroom before, surely someone was already checking up on it to see if it returned to the site of the murder. 

When the lesson ended, Ava found herself hovering at the edge of her table, her the strap of her bag gripped tight in her hand. Should she tell Merrythought or shouldn’t she? 

Tom waited inconspicuously for her by the door, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. 

“Is there something you needed Miss Rochford?” Merrythought asked her, looking up from his desk with a kind smile. 

Ava bit her lip and just as she half decided to say ‘yes’, Tom quietly cleared his throat at the back of the room. 

“No Professor, I’m fine.” She smiled, relaxing her grip on her bag and walking out of the room, fluffing her hair up as she went. What she saw wasn’t any use to him anyway. Tom followed silently and they walked down to the common room together to drop off their bags. 

“I’m going to go ahead.” Tom told her, dropping his bag in the common room by a table and turning straight to leave for dinner with the hoards of other students leaving the room. 

“Okay, I’ll see you there in a minute.” Ava smiled, opting to drop her bag off in her dorm instead. She actually wanted to take a long shower while the dormitory was empty. She wasn’t that hungry anyway, she could pick something up from the kitchens after dinner. 

Ava threw her bag and her robes onto her four poster bed unceremoniously and dug around in her trunk for a fresh towel, the one she had used that morning was still drying. On the very top of her trunk was the letter her Aunt had sent her about her grandfather’s death. She shoved it onto the beside table, deciding to put off addressing it for a few more days.

She pulled out all manner of things before she found a towel, lurking near the bottom of the trunk underneath the longest school skirt that she owned - and detested. Deciding not to worry about the mess she had created, Ava picked up the towel and walked into the bathroom, locking it behind her. 

There were very few things a long, hot shower couldn’t cure. Ava stood under the scalding jet, letting the noise of it block out her thoughts. It was a similar feeling to being in that empty corridor before she had seen… whatever she had seen. Peaceful bliss. The burning hot water seemed to be siphoning off all of her negative energy, it was a nice break, to not feel so horrible and guilty all of the time. She knew that as soon as she stepped foot out of the shower, all of those feelings would return. 

Ten minutes had barely passed and all Ava had done was stood there with her eyes closed, she hadn’t even reached for her shampoo, when there was a sudden, frantic banging on the bathroom door. 

Ava jumped and shut off the shower before wrapping the towel she’d brought in around herself. 

“What, what is it?” She asked, opening the door in a panic. It was a miracle nothing in the bathroom blew up, she was that startled, but she was proud of that. 

“Are you trying to give me heart failure?” Erin exclaimed, panting and holding a hand to her heaving chest. 

“You just don’t show up to dinner, and nobody has seen or heard from you?!” 

Ava leaned against the door frame and bit her lip. She hadn’t considered what her friends may have thought at her skipping dinner. She did it so often usually. 

“I’m sorry darling.” She said sincerely, wanting to pull Erin into a hug but not wanting her towel to fall down. 

“I didn’t think. I just wanted a shower.” 

Erin sighed and leaned against the other side of the doorframe. 

“It’s okay. I just panicked. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.” Her dark brown eyes were filling with tears and Ava realised then that Erin had been truly frightened. 

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m okay.” She reassured her, giving Erin a one armed side hug. 

“I’ll bring you something up, so you can eat when you’ve finished.” Erin smiled, wiping under her eyes quickly and sniffing. 

“Sorry for overreacting.” 

“It’s fine. I’d feel the same if it were you.” Ava assured her, giving her a weak smile. 

Erin smiled back and half laughed, half hiccoughed before seeing herself out of the dormitory. 

Ava sighed deeply when she was gone. She didn’t deserve Erin by any means. The emotional safety of her shower had evaporated and she decided there was no point going back in so she walked over to her bed and changed into her pyjamas. 

Once she had hung her towel up to dry, she turned to face the mess she had left by her trunk, most of her possessions having been dumped out of it in her search for a towel. She kneeled down and started to pack them all back in neatly, trying her best to sort them so the least important items went to the bottom.

Her hand paused when she picked up a leather diary. Tom’s diary. She had forgotten all about it. She turned it over and delicately traced the name embossed on the back. She should probably return it, but she didn’t want him to know she had kept it for all this time. Maybe she could leave it lying around in the common room and someone else would return it to him? 

Packing the rest of her things into her trunk quickly, Ava left the diary out on her bed so that she didn’t forget about it again. Once everything was safely away, she sat cross legged on her bed and waited for Erin to come back with food like she said she would. While she was waiting, Ava flipped the diary open and smiled a little at the blank pages. Tom Riddle thought he was so clever. 

“Lumos” she whispered, conjuring a small ball of magical light that floated just above her fingertips. Shining the light over the cream pages made the long list of ambiguous names appear again. She amused herself for several moments, moving the light far enough away for the names to fade, only to bring it back again and the ink to bleed back into view. It was the same across almost four whole pages, where the list stopped and the book remained empty. 

Then a name caught her eye, _Lachlan Caldwell._

She remembered seeing it last time and frowned at it. It was rather strange to see the names of people she knew in this odd little book. It wasn’t like she could outright ask Tom about it without telling him she had kept it all this time. 

Then she saw another name in the list she recognised, _James Digby._

This name made Ava frown. James Digby was the boy that Polly Prewett had found petrified one time that she and Tom had been on patrol.

Ava flipped back a page and saw the names of a couple of Ravenclaws from the year below. _Geraldine Finch_ and _Donald Hogan._

The first page didn’t hold any names she recognised. She scanned the list with a frown, wondering who they could all be. 

_Melanie Whaites._

Something about that name stood out to her, but she definitely didn’t know a Melanie Whaites. 

Just then, the door to the dormitory opened again and Ava snapped the book shut, shoving it indiscreetly under her pillow. 

“Relax,” Erin said, rolling her eyes and seemingly back to her usual self. 

“If you’re reading naughty novels, I don’t want to know about it.” 

Her arms were loaded with as many plates as she could apparently balance, including Yorkshire puddings and bread rolls tucked up in a napkin she was holding under her chin. Ava relieved her of a few things, placing them down on the floor and sitting down on the rug between their beds. 

“I thought we could both just eat up here.” Erin smiled, handing Ava cutlery that she had stored in the pocket of her robes. 

“Looks good,” Ava smiled, grabbing a hair tie off of her bedside table and tying her wet hair back from her face. 

She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so she tried to scrounge up an appetite, especially for Erin’s sake since she had gone to so much trouble. Ava selected a dish of chicken breast and mashed potatoes from the array before them and tucked in. 

“Oh!” She suddenly had a thought. 

“Do you know who Melanie Whaites is?” Erin looked at her with an eyebrow arched. 

“Of course I do. She was the first girl that got petrified. She was a first year.” 

Ava’s mouth fell open in surprise. 

“Why?” Erin asked, taking a bit out of what looked like paella. 

“I just heard someone mention her name today and it sounded familiar.” Ava lied quickly. That made three people that had been petrified who were all present in Tom’s diary. 

Erin was content to talk about the exams being postponed and her parents’ latest attempt to set her up with Alphard’s cousin Cygnus and didn’t seem to notice that Ava’s mind was swirling in confusion. 

When they finished eating, they piled up the plates in the corner of the room, knowing that house elves would come and remove them at some point and leaned back against their bed frames, still sat opposite each other on the floor. 

“Do you think they’ll close the school?” Erin asked suddenly, drawing one leg up and hugging it to her chest. 

“Because I don’t think I could cope with home-schooling.” 

“I have no idea.” Ava frowned, mimicking her best friend’s body language. 

“I suppose if they don’t catch whoever did it they’ll have to. A girl died.” 

“I know. It’s quite strange isn’t it?” Erin replied, resting her chin on her knee. 

“What is?” Ava asked. 

“I know that the teachers have told us all that ‘heir of Slytherin’ stuff was nonsense. But the only people that have been attacked are muggleborns.” Erin said, her mouth twisting into a grimace. 

“You think that there really is an heir of Slytherin?” Ava asked, sitting up straighter. 

“It kind of makes sense doesn’t it?” Erin asked, her expression thoughtful. 

“Supposedly there’s a monster only the heir of Slytherin can control that would go around eradicating muggleborns when it was told to. None of the teachers have been able to explain how those people got petrified, it’s not something that can be done by a spell.” 

Erin’s words ticked over in Ava’s mind and she saw a flash of a huge, serpentine body behind that bathroom door. 

“Do you know any other muggleborns?” Ava asked before she could stop herself, a heavy lead weight seeming to drop into her chest as she asked.

“Not many other than Lachlan.” Erin sighed, readjusting her position on the hard floor. 

“Alya Farley in Ravenclaw, Mary van Allen in Gryffindor, both in our year.” She ticked them off on her fingers. 

“Katarina Wells in the year above, Joshua Martin in seventh year.” Erin paused for thought. 

“It’s hard to remember who is and who isn’t you know? It’s not like I try and keep a list.” She laughed and Ava choked. 

“Are you alright?” Erin asked as Ava coughed on air for a minute, her face turning bright red. 

“Fine.” She spluttered, pouring herself some water from the jug on her beside and drinking it quickly. 

“I think at this point if I were a muggleborn I would leave. Especially since Myrtle…” Erin went on with what she had been talking about. She didn’t need to finish her sentence. 

The door to the dormitory banged open and Druella, Felicia and Cecilia all came in, looking tired and ready for bed. 

“You guys missed another speech.” Druella informed them, loosening her tie and throwing it on top of the pile of things in her trunk. 

“Dippet telling us all to be cautious and whatnot.” 

“I’m devastated.” Erin joked, jumping up off the floor to get changed. 

Since Ava was already in her pyjamas she just climbed straight into her four poster bed. 

“Goodnight guys.” She called across everyone’s conversations and her friends looked at her, each saying goodnight in return. Ava pulled her hangings closed and made sure there weren’t any gaps where light could enter or leave. Then she pulled the diary out from under her pillow, silently conjured the ball of white light and opened the first page with trembling fingers. 

_Melanie Whaites_ was still there in his tidy calligraphy. Ava flipped to the next page. 

_Mary van Allen_ and a little further down, _Alya Farley._

Her heartbeat was loud in her ears and she turned on to the next page. 

_Katarina Wells_ and on the other side of the page,  _Myrtle Warren_ _._

Ava clasped both of her hands over her mouth, letting the ball of light extinguish and allowing her to stare into the pitch black. This was a list of every muggleborn in the school. There was nothing else it could be. Why on earth would Tom have written down every muggleborn’s name? 

There could be another explanation. Ava tried to reason with herself, closing the diary and pushing it far away from her to the end of the bed. It could be something entirely different or maybe he had been asked to make such a list for somebody else. But why would he?

Ava refused to believe that the boy who held her hand to calm her down, who was helping her control her magic in a way that no one else had ever done, who made her feel things she couldn’t even explain could have murdered a fellow student in cold blood. 

But memories were bubbling to the surface of her brain, things that she hadn’t paid attention to at the time, even earlier today he had paled when she told him she had seen something on the second floor. He had manipulated her into not telling Merrythought about it. 

A conversation from long ago was ringing in her ears. 

“ _I’ve made some discoveries about my ancestry.” …_

Could he have possibly been referring to Salazar Slytherin himself? That he had discovered he was the founder’s true heir? 

Ava laid down on her pillow and quickly became irritated with her cold, wet hair. She dried it without thinking, simply running a hand over it and taking out the tie she had used to hold it back. 

She wasn’t tired at all and there was no way she could get comfortable. No matter what was she turned, she saw Tom Riddle’s handsome face looking back at her with a searing look. 

Eventually all the other girls fell silent and Ava heard the fires lighting the room go out. Unable to take another second of not knowing whether Tom was the heir of Slytherin of if she had lost her mind, she grabbed the diary in one hand, opened a crack in her hangings and slipped out silently. 

What she was doing was utterly insane. She padded along on her tiptoes, the cold floor stinging her bare feet. Without making any noise at all, she crossed the common room to the boys dormitory, taking a deep breath and praying that she wouldn’t be caught, she stepped through the door and along the corridor until she reached the one labelled ‘Fifth Years’. 

If she was caught she was going to be expelled for sure; sneaking around in the boys dormitory well after curfew. Ava used magic to push the door open silently, her resolve strengthening with every second that passed. She would find all the beds occupied with the hangings closed. Definitely. She would ask Tom about it tomorrow and give the diary back and everything would be fine.

The door opened and she tiptoed in, hardly daring to breathe. She didn’t need to look very far. The torchlight from the corridor fell right onto the trunk at the foot of the first bed, which was empty. The initials embossed on the trunk were T.M.R. 

In Ava’s heart she hoped that he was studying in the common room, or had fallen asleep in an armchair and she had somehow missed him on her way past. Her brain was telling her differently. 

Clutching the diary closer to her chest, she stared at the empty bed for a few more painful seconds before tiptoeing back out of the room and closing the door softly behind her. There was still a chance he was innocent. 

The common room was as deserted as she feared it would be. She practically ran across it, her silvery hair flying out behind her. If he was in the bathroom on the second floor then that was her proof. If he wasn’t, there was still a sliver of hope. 

There was nothing to stop her running into a teacher and Ava barely noticed the route she was taking in the dark castle as she sprinted on her tiptoes. She couldn’t afford to be cautious just then, she needed to know for sure. 

It must have been some kind of miracle for her not to run into whatever teacher was on patrol, especially since she ran the whole way to the second floor. Ava had tried to be as quiet as she could, but she couldn’t hold in the gasps after the second flight of stairs. 

The door to the bathroom was closed, but the light around the doorframe told her that it was likely someone was inside. Really it was stupid of him, she thought angrily, leaving his hangings open on his bed, sneaking around so late at night and leaving the lights on for anyone going past to see. 

She used the same pulse of magic she had used in the boys dormitories to silently open the door enough for her to slip in. Sure enough, the tall form of Tom Riddle had his back to her, he was facing the sinks in the middle of the room, the top of which was slowly lowering. That must be where he was keeping his monster. Ava felt her heart break as she took in his familiar black hair. He hadn’t heard her come in.

"I thought I might find you here" Ava said at last, stepping forwards from the doorway. Tom spun around, glancing at the sinks which had reformed seamlessly only a minute ago. 

"Avaline. What are you doing out after hours?" He asked once he had composed his expression. 

"I could ask you the same thing." She replied coolly, folding her arms and leaning back against the doorframe. Her heart pounded in her chest, unable to believe what she was seeing, unable to believe her suspicions had been correct. 

"Although I doubt the heir of Slytherin sets much store by school rules." She continued when he didn't respond. Her eyes flickered to the sinks behind him then back up to meet his own hazel gaze. 

"I beg your pardon" he had the decency to sound offended. 

"I know it's you" she tried to sound calm and unaffected but she could feel her face growing red from pressure. 

“I’m afraid that I have no idea what you’re talking about” 

The mask was back. The cold, expressionless mask that she hated so much on him. She looked slowly over his pale skin, high cheekbones, pink lips.

All the time in their friendship, Ava had felt a deep sense of connection and understanding for the dark haired boy in front of her. But this lie, this atrocity was more than she could bear to ignore. He had hurt people, he had hurt _Lachlan._ He had _killed_ an innocent girl. 

“Then why” she said, as she held up his diary between her thumb and forefinger, as though the thing were poisonous.

“Do you have every muggle born’s name in the school written down, Tom?” 

“Where did you find that?” His eyes flashed in anger and he took a step towards her. 

“It fell out of your bag in potions ages ago” Ava admitted in a shaking voice.

“I didn’t want to give it back until I knew for sure what it meant” 

She flung the diary at him with a sneer on her face. He caught it. 

“I see” he said, turning the diary over in his hands. 

“You have been misled by partial information” he came closer to her, brushing her hair over her shoulder. 

“And that isn’t at all your fault” he crooned, his voice as soft as velvet. 

Far from being entranced by his charm as she might have been in the past, Ava’s eyes hardened dangerously. She pushed his hand away from her and took a step backwards through the door. 

“Don’t you dare try that with me, Riddle” 

“Try what?” He smiled a positively heart-stopping smile. As though he knew the effect that would have on her already erratic heartbeat. 

Ava couldn’t stop herself. She slapped him across the face. Simultaneously, all of the mirrors in the bathroom shattered in unison. Tom staggered sideways as the sound of the slap reverberated around the bathroom. 

“I will not be manipulated by you” she spat before turning around and running from the boy who had just broken her heart. 

 

Anyone with any common sense would have turned in the diary without even confronting him. But Ava needed to know, needed to see for herself the monster that she now knew him to be. 

The problem was, now that she knew for certain there were no more excuses not to turn him in. Her time was up, she knew for sure, he had all but admitted it to her and as much as her brain screamed at her to go running to the nearest teacher - to Dippet, or Dumbledore, both strong advocates against the dark arts - she remained exactly where she was on her four poster bed staring into the darkness. Her heart felt heavy and she would never admit that it was the reason she hadn’t confided in a member of staff yet. 

Occasionally her leg or fingers twitched, itching to get up and do something, but with no real conviction. 

He was like water in her lungs. Poison in her veins. He had rooted himself into her heart without her realising just how deep those roots ran.

Ava hated herself for it but she couldn’t bear the thought of brilliant, beautiful Tom Riddle thrown in Azkaban for the rest of his life. He had so much talent, she knew he had so much good in him that he himself couldn’t see. 

She was in love with Tom Riddle. And Tom Riddle was a monster. So what on earth did that make her? 


	25. June 13th 1943

Ava didn’t sleep at all that night. She checked herself into the hospital wing the next morning to avoid lessons and remained motionless under the thin cotton blanket of her bed.

Luckily for her she looked ill. Her eyes were bloodshot and dark bags had formed beneath them. She was also extremely pallid, so much so that her veins seemed to be popping under her skin.

Tom didn’t come looking for her in the daytime and she thanked Merlin that he had left her in peace. She didn’t know what to say to him. She could never condone his actions but then she could also never explain to him why she was yet to turn him in, it would only make the situation worse.

Madame Turnley shooed Ava from the hospital wing in time for dinner after forcing her to drink a pepper-up potion.

Unfortunately, she had barley made it two corridors before she was intercepted.

"Avaline." His voice was low and inviting and made her freeze in her tracks.

Ava swallowed hard before turning around and facing her own personal demon. Tom was standing a few feet away from her, apparently having come from a passage on his left. His cheeks were a little flushed, as though he had hurried there.

He took a step towards her, searching her face thoroughly for signs of what she was feeling.

“Stay back” Ava ordered, raising her palms in his direction threateningly. She didn't know what she planned to do if he ignored her but she couldn't stand the thought of him right now.

“You’re a murderer” she spat, staring straight at his Slytherin tie rather than risk meeting his eyes.

“And yet” he mused, stepping closer to her and examining her flushed cheeks and noting her lack of eye contact.

“Here I am. You haven’t told a soul.”

Ava swallowed and looked at the floor, her insides ablaze with emotion. Guilt being the most prevalent.

Another step forwards and Ava stumbled backwards.

“Don’t come any closer.” She begged, her voice breaking.

“Why?” Tom asked, ignoring her request and tilting her chin up so that she was forced to meet his gaze.

“Are you afraid?” He breathed, his face millimetres from hers.

“Yes.” She replied, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Despite Ava's words, she felt incredibly safe being so close to him. She always did. When she was with Tom she didn't have to be afraid of herself. Her heart was ready to beat out of her chest but not because she was scared.

Tom's hand slipped from her chin to the side of her neck, feeling the frantic thrumming of her heartbeat. It was possible that she was telling him the truth, her heart was definitely beating as though she was ready to run for her life. But there was something in those large blue eyes that had him captivated. The way she was looking at him was addictive. He couldn't put a name to what it was, but he knew it was what he needed to keep her convinced, to keep her compliant.

Incredibly slowly, mainly because he wasn't at all sure he wasn't misreading something in the delicate features he had become so used to studying, Tom leaned forwards. At the same time, Ava pushed herself up onto her tiptoes and closed her eyes, letting their lips brush together.

Tom knew he had made the right judgment when the pulse under his fingertips jumped again, virtually stuttering before picking up in double time. Although on his side the kiss was hesitant, on Ava's it was chaotic. But even though her mind raged at her about how wrong it was, about all the reasons she should hate him, she couldn't stop herself kissing him back. And while her emotions were off the handle, in Tom's arms, her magic was still perfectly under her control.

The kiss was too long and too short. The half of Ava that wished it could go on forever battled with the half that screamed she should never have let it happen in the first place.

She finally leaned back, letting go of the front of his robes - where her hands had somehow ended up - and tears welled in her eyes. Tom let go of her neck and her waist at the same time.

The beautiful hazel eyes in front of her were remorseless in every sense of the word. Ava covered her mouth with her hand and ran away from him. It was the cowardly thing to do but she couldn't say anything to him after... After that. It wasn't her first kiss but it was the most intense she had ever received.

Her stomach growled fiercely and she took a detour to the kitchens, giving the house elves a watery smile as they fixed her a plate of all the best dishes for dinner. Once she had time to think about it, she couldn't believe that Tom hadn't said anything to convince her not to go to Dippet yet. Maybe he was just plotting to kill her before she could, she mused over a bowl of lasagne, or maybe he knew exactly why she hadn't gone already. That thought frightened her more than the first.

 

“Are you alright darling?” Alphard asked her when she came in and sat down for breakfast after a restless night, frantically checking who was present at the table. The unfairly handsome, raven-haired boy she had been avoiding was - mercifully - absent. Ava pulled her hair forwards over her shoulder and sat down next to Alphard, slouching behind his tall figure to hide from view from the doors to the hall.

“I’m fine.” Ava whispered far too late in response to the question. Before Alphard could press her further, Erin came barrelling in and sat down between them.

"Can you even believe it?" Erin asked them both before her bottom even touched the seat.

"Believe what?" Alphard asked, pushing his dark hair back and giving Ava a look that told her he was going to question her later. The thought dropped a lead weight into her stomach, it wasn't like she could tell him what was on her mind to feel better about it. She was trapped.

“Haven’t you heard yet?” Erin said, looking between the two of them in surprise.

“Heard what?” Ava asked, a little exasperated that Erin wasn't just getting to the point.

“The person behind the attacks, they were caught this morning. Honestly where have you been?”

“What?” Ava asked sharply, her eyes quickly scanning the table for Tom. He was absent. Ava’s stomach twisted and she didn’t know whether it was from hope or dread.

“Yeah, Riddle caught him - of all people right,? He's getting some sort of award I think.” Erin rolled her eyes and helped herself to some fish pie.

“Anyway, it was Rubeus Hagrid you know in third year? Turns out he was keeping some kind of creature hidden in the school and it was going around attacking everybody.”

Ava felt the room spinning.

“Rubeus?” She confirmed breathlessly, the quiet, overlarge Gryffindor with a heart of gold. Tom had framed him for the murder he had committed, using that giant spider the pair of them had found when Ava had taken them back in time.

“Yeah, he was expelled straight away, they snapped his wand and everything apparently.” Erin finished her story with a satisfied smirk and rested her elbows on the table.

“Anyway, who cares about who did it now right? The mandrake draught will be ready in a matter of days according to Professor Slughorn which means Lachlan will be awake before next week!”

"It also probably means exams will be rescheduled now all this unpleasantness is over." Alphard remarked. Erin glared at him.

"Do you have to be such a downer? Nobody else is going to be attacked, Lachlan is coming back and I am feeling great right about now."

"Sorry love." Alphard chucked, discreetly taking hold of Erin's hand on the table. Ava frowned down at her plate. The atmosphere in the room did seem to be a lot less tense than it had been of late; everyone was laughing and chatting and the general aura of relief was palpable. They all thought the danger had passed. But Ava knew differently.

 

Ava sat simmering with rage during her lessons that morning, making the windows in the classrooms rattle and sent objects nearest her scudding backwards by a few inches. Luckily everyone was too preoccupied with the news of the attacker being caught and that curfew was to be put back to its usual hours.

She had to wait until potions to see him. The space next to him on the bench was empty and she took it immediately. He didn't even glance up as she set her things down roughly on the table.

"How could you?" She hissed at Tom's profile while he bent over his side of the bench, weighing ingredients for the lesson.

Slughorn wasn't trying to call the class to attention just yet, he was too busy chortling at something someone at the front of the room was saying.

To turned slowly to face her, looking mildly surprised.

"Avaline." He greeted, glancing around the noisy classroom.

"Rubeus." Ava got straight to the point, leaning forwards in her chair and glaring at him. A fire sprang to life underneath her cauldron without her touching it.

"How could you do that to him? He could never have hurt anyone."

Tom seemed to ponder her question, finishing weighing his beetle eyes before answering.

"That monster he was keeping in the dungeons was quite as dangerous as any other monster that might be roaming these halls." He said finally, keeping his features very stoic.

"But his monster never actually hurt anybody, did it?" Ava asked through gritted teeth, standing up from her chair.

"Do you have any proof of that?" Tom asked softly, as if testing the waters. He cocked his head a little at her while she struggled for words. The fire under her cauldron burned dangerously bright and the vials of ingredients on the table rattled. Tom caught a glass bottle of salamander blood that fell off the edge of the table from the vibrations.

"You know they would take my word for it." She hissed savagely, not even thinking about how violently her reactions were affecting their potions table.

"They probably would." He soothed her, placing a placating hand on her wrist. Ava took a deep breath and the table stopped shaking but she jerked her hand away a second later.

"You've ruined his life." She pressed, searching his face desperately for any sign of regret.

"Sometimes..." Tom said slowly, his eyes back on his work.

"Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good."

"Don't tell me you're a Grindelwald supporter now." Ava growled, sparks flying from her fingertips. Tom gave her a disparaging look.

"Of course I'm not."

"What do you mean then?"

Tom glanced up as Slughorn clapped his hands together loudly to gain the classes attention.

"We're back on prefect patrol tonight. I'll tell you then." He said and Ava looked for a hint of a lie in his hazel eyes. She couldn't find one.

"Fine." She conceded, giving her attention over to the rotund professor at the front of the room.

 

She met him outside the common room where he was leaning casually on the wall, twirling his bone white wand between his fingers.

"Did you want to start walking?'

"I want you to explain right now."

Tom nodded and put his wand in his pocket before pushing off the wall and beginning the route through the castle that they had established right at the start of the year.

They walked in silence for a few minutes while Tom pondered how to word what he knew he had to tell her. The time to tell her the truth had arrived or else he would risk losing her entirely. She had become such an integral part of his plans, that the thought of scaring her off was intolerable.

"The truth is, I envision a new world." Tom finally began, looking right into her eyes.

"A world where only those with the purest magical blood study and practice magic. A world without limitations on the sorts of magic we are taught."

Ava frowned.

"But why?"

"Don't you see how strong the future generations of wizards will be if we only train the best? All of this, muggle blood, mixed in is diluting our power. Limiting our potential."

He spoke more passionately than Ava had ever heard him speak before.

"This very school limits us Avaline." He insisted, stopping walking and taking hold of her hands in a tight grip.

"These walls and the laws of our society are stopping us practising the dark arts. They're on the wrong side of history. The dark arts hold so much potential for self improvement; limitless power, even immortality."

"Those kinds of things come at a price, Tom." Ava said, struggling to take in everything he was saying, she pried her hands from his grip and backed away.

"So to take the power to change laws, change the rules, how many people have to be sacrificed for that greater good?" She asked harshly. Tom clenched his jaw. He needed her to focus on the end goal. To understand that the end justified the means.

"Think of it Avaline. Together we could build a new society. We would be an unstoppable force." Tom stepped towards her, not allowing her any personal space.

"You would never have to hide or limit yourself again." He said softly.

"That's what you want, isn't it?"

“You don’t know anything about me.” Ava bit back, backing as far into the wall as she could get, trying her hardest to stay away from him. He didn’t stop.

“I know you care about me.” He whispered, stopping right in front of her so that she had to look up to see his eyes. He touched her cheek gently and she flinched, feeling traitor tears welling up in her eyes.

“And I know that hasn’t conveniently faded away. No matter how much you want it to.”

"I think you need to back off before I scream for help." Ava tried to say fiercely, but she wiped her eyes as she did it.

Tom complied with her request and moved backwards a few paces.

It was so unfair, Ava thought, that such a person could look so innocent and charming. That this boy was the only person she had ever felt understood her and helped her and now he was asking this of her. Asking her to be as much of a monster as he was.

"I don't think I can do what you're asking." She choked after a second.

Tom's eyes hardened for a second but the moment passed quickly.

"You should think carefully about it." He said firmly before turning on his heel and walking back off down the corridor.


	26. What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Wish You Were Dead

Ava slept fitfully that night. Eventually she gave up trying to rest and left the confines of the dormitory. She felt utterly trapped. There was no denying the way her heart reacted whenever she laid eyes on Tom Riddle and that part of her couldn’t turn him in. Not when she knew the real Tom. 

Because as monstrous as his actions seemed, the boy himself was not the same as the choices he had been making. The person that let that snake loose in the school was not the same boy that let her lean into him for comfort, not the same boy that carried her from the school gates all the way to the infirmary when she had collapsed. 

There was good in him. Ava had seen it, had felt it. She just needed to draw him off of the dark path he was on. He could still be redeemed. 

Saturday dawned bright and cloudless. The inhabitants of the castle all seemed to take an age to made it down to the great hall for breakfast, where Ava had been sitting pensively since the doors had first opened. 

When most of the school was seated, Professor Dippet stood up with his arms spread wide, looking around with a wide smile that had not been present since Christmas. 

“My dear students. While I hate to distract you from your breakfast I would like to make a short and swift announcement.” 

He waited for the remainder of chatter to die away before continuing. 

“I am so glad to be able to tell you that the school shall not be closing.” 

A burst of applause followed these words and he smiled even more broadly, holding up a hand to quieten the excited students. 

“After a thorough investigation, the tragic death of Myrtle Warren has been found to be a terrible accident, unrelated to the other attacks at the school. The culprit behind those attacks however, has been apprehended.” 

Another flurry of applause followed these words. 

“As a celebration and reward for your perseverance through these troubling times, all exams have been postponed until further notice.” 

The loudest round of applause yet filled the room and took quite a bit longer to quieten down again. 

“Finally,” Dippet looked around at every house table. “Eat, drink, relax and know that the danger has passed.”

He sat back down and talk immediately started amongst the students. Of course, most of them had heard the previous day about Hagrid being expelled, but the official announcement was another thing altogether. 

Ava stared at her empty plate, troubled by the headmaster’s words. Myrtle’s death had been no unrelated accident and the danger had definitely yet to pass. 

“Good morning.” A voice startled her from her thoughts as someone slid into the seat beside her. 

Ava’s heart squeezed painfully at the sound and she glanced up to see Tom, who was busying himself with a coffee. 

“Hi.” She murmured, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously and staring down at the table. 

“Would you join me for a walk this morning?” He asked in a low voice, trying to make eye contact with her but she was deliberately avoiding his gaze. 

Ava hesitated but then nodded once. Tom tried to analyse her expression but it was guarded. He sighed and drank his coffee. 

Across the table, Alphard was watching the interaction with a glare. He didn’t dare say anything to Tom’s face, but Ava knew he had some colourful things going through his mind just from his expression. 

Patience had never been one of Tom’s strengths. He stood up as soon as he had finished his coffee and glanced down at the top of Ava’s blonde head. She shot Alphard a tired smile before also standing up and following Tom’s lead out of the hall. 

Ava expected him to lead her down to the dungeons, where they would be unlikely to be overheard at this time of the morning; but Tom directed her through the entrance hall and out into the sunlit grounds. 

“Have you thought any more of what we spoke about last night?” He asked, looking at the mountainous horizon rather than down at Ava’s face as they walked at a leisurely pace around the lake. 

Ava tucked her hair behind her ear nervously. 

“I have.” 

Tom didn’t press her further, but kept walking. Ava could see he was clenching his jaw and his whole posture seemed incredibly tense. 

“I thought, maybe, we could discuss some of the things you mentioned.” She said delicately. The sun was so bright she had to squint to see his face. 

Once again Tom didn’t respond but kept looking straight ahead. The only indication Ava had that he had even heard her was the thinning of his lips. 

"These... Limitations that you're so afraid of. Have you ever thought that we might be limited for our own good?" Ava thought back to some of the points he had raised the previous night. 

"Such as?" He asked delicately, steering them back in the direction of the castle as more and more students started to file out onto the lawn from breakfast. 

"Well, you mentioned immortality." Ava began, letting her eyes adjust to the shade of the entrance hall again. They wandered up the marble staircase together slowly and Ava was glad that they had decided to walk away from the direction most other students were going. She wasn't sure she wanted this conversation to be overheard. 

"I did." Tom replied stonily, not looking at her. Ava sighed. 

"If life was infinite, don't you think that would make everything in life meaningless?" She asked. 

"Of course not. You would have the time to experience everything the world had to offer and then time to do it all over again." Tom looked a little baffled by her opinion on the matter. 

"Exactly, all that time would make all of those things meaningless. The fact that we die some day makes every day worth living to the fullest." 

"Do you live every day to the fullest?" Tom asked disparagingly. Ava couldn't respond. She didn't honestly feel as though she seized every moment of every day with an insane zest for life. 

"Death is the biggest tragedy in life. All the things that could be achieved and gained without the hinderance of mortality.... Especially if it was ours alone." Tom finished his sentence a little darkly. 

Ava knew what he was getting at. This regime he wanted. For a brief second she let herself imagine it. All the time in the world. Forever with Tom, King and Queen of the wizarding world. But at what cost? she would never be able to call herself a healer if she sacrificed innocent lives for her own selfish gain. 

"At what cost though Tom?" She voiced her thoughts, looking at him with worry. 

"Whatever the cost is, it will be worth it." He assured her. His hazel eyes were looking particularly dark in the deserted castle hallways. 

"All those lives?" She whispered. He didn't respond. 

“There’s still good in you, I know there is." She said gently, cautiously taking hold of one of his cold hands. 

“What I’m doing is good, it’s for everyone’s good.” He insisted, letting her hold his hand in the hope that the physical contact might help sway her. 

 

“What good can come from hurting people?” Ava asked gently.

Right at that moment, Cepheus Lestrange rounded the corner in front of them, took one look at the pair of them and back-pedalled the way he had come without uttering a word. Even though Ava had grown used to his strange behaviour since their duel, she still looked after him questioningly. 

“Well that was a good example.” Tom said confidently, nodding towards the spot where Cepheus had briefly appeared. He turned them swiftly to the room to their left to save them from potentially catching up to Cepheus.

“It teaches people their place. Teaches them who they ought to fear.” 

“What are you talking about?” Ava asked, barely even noticing that he had steered them into the trophy room rather than following Lestrange. 

“Haven’t you wondered why Lestrange hasn’t bothered you for months?” Tom asked with an eyebrow raised. 

“After he injured you he needed a lesson in respect.” 

The image of Cepheus’ destroyed back swam to the surface of Ava’s mind. 

“You-“ she gasped, clutching her chest in shock. 

“You tortured him?” 

“I would do it again.” Tom insisted darkly, taking hold of Ava’s face in his hands so that she was forced to look at him. His eyes were remorseless.

“He didn’t deserve it.” Ava whispered, her eyes filling with tears. No one deserved to be tortured by dark magic. 

Tom searched her face in bewilderment. 

“How can you, of all people, say that about him?” He asked.

“I wouldn’t wish what you did on my worst enemy.” Ava spat, pushing him backwards in order to reinstate her personal space. 

“Is it because you want to heal people?” Tom mocked, clenching his jaw to prevent the snarl he was fighting to keep off his face. 

“What’s wrong with helping people?” Ava asked defiantly. 

“It makes you weak - lowering yourself to their level.” 

“Who exactly are ‘they’ Tom? Other people? My friends?” 

“It’s everyone.” He snapped, his eyes flashing red and his handsome face twisting into a sneer. 

“Every single person in this school is scum, is beneath us. Cepheus deserved what happened to him because I said so and he should be grateful it wasn’t worse.” 

Ava was speechless for a minute, her heart pounding in her chest as she processed his brutal honesty. 

“And that girl you killed. What was she?” She asked eventually. 

Tom gave her a haughty look. 

“No better than the rest of them.” 

“You don’t regret her death at all?” Ava stared directly into Tom’s hazel eyes, daring him to lie to her. 

“No.” 

“You’re despicable.” She spat, walking across the trophy room, trying to create enough distance between them in order for her to think. 

“What you’ve done-“ her voice broke and she stared at her own reflection in the glass trophy case rather than turn to face him. 

“You disgust me.” 

“So that’s it, is it?” Tom’s voice was low and menacing. 

“After all of this, you hate me?”

“Of course I don’t hate you Tom! Don’t you understand that is my whole problem?!” She whirled around and the trophies and shields all around the walls began the quiver and shake. 

“I’m in love with you and I hate it! I hate that you have this power over me and I hate that you don’t even care! You’re callous and cruel and-“ She cut herself off, knowing her voice was about to crack again. 

“And a murderer.” She whispered, feeling tears well up in her eyes. How was it possible to love such a monster. What did that say about her? 

“Someone who loved me,” Tom said softly, his voice carefully measured as he stepped closer to her, “would believe what I believe in. Would stand with me to build a new world.”

Ava looked up at him, hating the way her heart jumped as he lifted a hand to hold her cheek and the way the look in his eyes made her want to let him get away with whatever he wanted. There was a second of silence, everything stopped rattling and Ava held her breath as Tom leaned down so their foreheads brushed. The hand was wasn’t caressing her cheek slipped easily around her waist, holding her there, pressed against him. 

She closed her eyes, and felt a traitorous tear slide down her face. This wasn’t him. This was him trying to keep her on his side. To use her. Not because he wanted her. He didn’t want to be saved.

She opened her eyes and saw Tom’s were shut, his jaw was tensed and he squeezed her waist before letting her go. He knew before she had to say anything. 

“I will not stand for the dark arts.” She said quietly but firmly. Leaving no room for any more argument. Her decision was made.

Tom fixed her with a scorching look and she backed away, having never seen such an expression on him before. His handsome face was twisted with fury, he looked as though he wanted to world to burn - and Ava to burn with it. 

“Then you are worthless to me.” He hissed, drawing his wand and clutching it at his side. 

Ava eyed it warily, her heart beating a staccato in her chest and she backed away even further, leaving them at almost opposite ends of the room. 

The non-verbal curse that Tom threw at her shattered one of the glass cases behind her head, showering the floor in gold and silver shields and cups. Ava gasped and ducked, not expecting him to actually try and hurt her. 

The next spell flew under her left arm, another cabinet exploded and broken glass showered the back of her robes, catching her left hand which was cut. 

Another hex, the stone floor under her feet started to crack. Tears were streaming down her face when she finally lifted her hands into the air and channelled all of the hurt and fear she was feeling into power. 

“Stop.” She choked out, freezing the fourth curse in mid air, pure green light hovered between them as did some of the broken glass. Tom couldn’t move his arm even though he tried desperately. He wanted her to feel pain like nothing she had ever known, thinking she could abandon his plans for her, thinking she had the right to abandon him. 

Ava gave him one last, searching look and, finding nothing remorseful in his expression, she ran from the room. Once she had left, everything resumed motion. The avada kedavra curse burned a black mark onto the far wall she had been standing in front of and Tom scowled at it, infuriated that she had beaten him. 

Slowly, with intense difficulty due to the waves of anger he could not control, he went about repairing the damage to the trophy room. He didn’t want anyone to know about what had just happened. 

Ava had stopped running on the third floor, slipped behind a tapestry of ‘The Lady and the Unicorn’ to the secret passageway behind it. There, she slid down with her back to the wall and covered her mouth with her hands, unable to stop the wracking sobs that ripped their way through her.


	27. The Broken, the Beaten and the Damned.

When Ava finally stopped crying, the secret passage she had hidden in was barely still intact. The floor and walls were cracked in several places, some gaps spanning a few feet in diameter. The stairs at the far end of the passage were little more than dust and rubble. 

It had been at least an hour since she had left Tom in the trophy room. Where he had tried to kill her. It took a long time for that realisation to sink into her heart. Tom Riddle had tried to kill her. The boy she was in love with, who had used her so callously.

Eventually, she knew she had to go back to the dormitories. However, now that she knew lines had been drawn between them - nothing with Tom would ever be the same again. He had made it extremely plain that if she was not with him, he considered her against him. And everyone against Tom would end up dead. 

Ava tucked her hair behind her ears and pulled back the tapestry with a shaky breath, checking up and down the corridor for signs of movement. Just because he hadn’t succeeded the first time didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try to kill her again. 

She walked back to the common room with her hands raised protectively in front of her, jumping at every sound. She knew she must look a wreck with her bloodshot eyes, tearstained face and terrified demeanour but luckily everyone still seemed to be enjoying the sunshine outside and she didn’t run into anyone. 

Ava’s heart stuttered in her chest when she met the entrance to the Slytherin common room. She whispered the password and crept inside, her hands raised to fend off any potential attacks, but, like the rest of the corridors she had walked through, it was deserted. 

Knowing that Tom had no way of entering the girl’s dorms Ava took the stairs at a run, finally feeling a little bit safer once the dormitory door had swung shut behind her. Once inside. Ava paced her room, trying to think of what to do. 

She could tell someone, that would be the logical thing to do. But then it would be her word against his and he had every teacher in the school in his pocket… then it was only a matter of time. There was also the fact that if she was faced with those hazel eyes again, she might fall right back into the same spell she had been in for months and not say anything at all. 

Ava sat down on her bed, chewing her fingernails anxiously. Really what she needed was an escape route out of Hogwarts to think, where he couldn’t get to her. Her eyes drifted over her bedside table to the letter her Aunt had sent her nearly a week ago asking for her attendance at her grandfather’s funeral. Ava seized it, suddenly incredibly grateful that she hadn’t responded. This was her chance, her lifeline, at least temporarily. 

She scribbled a response begging her Aunt’s forgiveness for the late reply and asking to attend the funeral, including that she could be ready to floo home the very next day due to the cancelled exams. Ava couldn’t risk going all the way to the owlery to send the response so she crumpled it up in her hands and used magic to make it materialise on her Aunt’s dining room table. She would see it there. 

A little time away from the whole situation would do her good, so that she could look at things with a clear head and distance herself from her feelings. 

She spent the rest of Saturday curled up in her four poster bed with the hangings open, her eyes fixed on the door. Ava was convinced that it was going to blast open at any minute and her own personal demon would be standing there, ready to finish her off. 

However, the door remained shut and against her will, Ava fell into an uneasy sleep. 

“Ava?” 

She was awoken by Erin shaking her shoulder gently to wake her up. 

“Hm?” Ava asked blearily, before sitting upright and looking around in alarm. 

“What time is it?” She asked, noting the light streaming through the dormitory window. 

“It’s nearly nine in the morning.” Erin replied, sitting at the foot of Ava’s bed. 

“You fell asleep in your clothes but you looked so tired I didn’t want to wake you.” 

“It’s Sunday?” Ava double checked, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. No wonder her stomach felt ready to consume itself - she hadn’t eaten in twenty-four hours. 

“Yeah, Professor Slughorn is outside the common room waiting for you. He said that your Aunt is expecting you this morning.” Erin said with a frown. 

“Is everything okay at home?” 

“Yeah, it’s my- my grandfather’s funeral today.” Ava said, swinging her legs off the bed and rushing to her trunk to grab a change of clothes and pyjamas to put in a bag to take with her. She had regular clothes at her Aunt’s manor to change into when she arrived. 

“Okay, well if you need to talk or anything you know I’m here.” Erin smiled and Ava looked up, studying her friend’s face. 

“Thanks, Erin.” She smiled softly. 

“Hopefully when you’re back Lachlan will be awake.” Erin grinned happily. 

“Then it’ll be just like normal again.” 

“I hope so.” Ava replied, thinking of Tom and whether or not he would try and hurt her or Lachlan again. 

“I better go darling, I’ll see you in a couple of days.” 

The two girls hugged briefly before Ava hurried from the dormitory. She took a deep breath at the foot of the stairs and entered the common room. Thankfully, it was fairly busy for a Sunday morning. At least ten students were present, mostly talking or playing wizard snap. 

She strode across the common room quickly, keeping her head down. Right as she reached the door it opened and the last person she wanted to see in the world came in. Ava imagined she must look like a very blonde deer in headlights as Tom’s dark eyes came to rest on her. 

She froze for half a second before carrying on, feeling her heart speed up in her chest as she had to walk past him. His pale hand caught her arm as she passed. Ava turned to look at him almost against her will. His handsome features looked torn and he had his mouth open like he was about to speak. 

For the first time in his life, Tom Riddle was at a genuine loss for words. He had never felt the foreign emotion ripping through his chest as he looked down at Ava’s porcelain features. Her wide blue eyes betrayed her fear of him and it was the first time he hadn’t wanted someone to feel that way while looking at him. He wanted her to look at him the way she had before - the addicting way he couldn’t get enough of. Like she loved him. 

Before he could form any words, Professor Slughorn had stuck his head through the open common room door and Ava looked towards him. 

“There you are Ava my girl! Come, your Aunt must be wondering where you’ve got to. She owled me less than an hour ago that she wanted you home at once!” 

Ava nodded at Slughorn before giving Tom one, long last look. Trying to see any sign of remorse on his face, any hint of regret. Tom’s eyes didn’t waver from Ava’s face, but his mouth closed and she saw his jaw clench angrily. Tom felt her rip her arm from his grip forcefully, stinging his fingers with magic in the process. 

He saw a last glimpse of her long silver white hair and then she was gone through the common room door.

 

 

Ava’s Aunt Hestia took one look at Ava’s skeletal state and the dark circles under her eyes before declaring that she was unfit to attend the funeral. 

“What would the family say!” She shrieked, pulling at Ava’s school jumper which hung loosely on her frame. It was true Ava was looking unhealthy these days - it was so rare she remembered to eat. 

“You’re just going to have to stay here. The pantry is fully stocked so for God’s sake eat something, I also expect you to get some sleep before I send you back off to school. Honestly, what sort of stress are they putting you under there?” Hestia asked rhetorically. 

Her Aunt flounced off to her room to get changed into more appropriate funeral attire than her burgundy and gold embroidered robes. 

Ava didn’t care that her Aunt wasn’t going to let her attend the funeral, it wasn’t like she really wanted to go. She was grateful Hestia was still willing to let her take a few days off of school though. She wandered around the old manor house she had grown up in, marvelling how it hadn’t change at all since she had arrived when she was six years old - an orphan. 

Hestia only had one photo of Ava’s parents - on their wedding day. It was tucked into a corner of the drawing room in a glass cabinet. Sometimes Ava just liked to stare at the old photograph so she didn’t forget what they looked like. 

 

 

Aunt Hestia did not return home that night. Ava went to bed past midnight and thought maybe her Aunt had stayed at another family member’s house. She rarely kept Ava informed of her plans. 

However, when an owl delivered the daily prophet the next morning, she discovered the real reason her Aunt had not returned. Ava dropped the glass of orange juice she had been holding and it smashed on the marble kitchen floor. The bold headline read:

‘WIZARDING FAMILY WIPED OUT BY MUGGLE BOMB’ 

‘ _Funeral goers in central London were killed by a muggle device called a bomb, which causes mass destruction, yesterday afternoon. The bomb was dropped as part of the ongoing muggle war between England and Germany. Amongst the dead were the last remaining members of the pureblooded Rochford family along with members of the Selwyn family to whom they were related. Several muggles were also killed in surrounding buildings. To read more on the deceased, see page 4.’_

Ava hastily turned to page four with a feeling of sharp dread and saw not only her Aunt’s picture staring up at her, but her own picture as well. Underneath it read: _Avaline Marie Rochford, fifth year Hogwarts student._

No one knew that she hadn’t attended the funeral. The wizarding world thought she was dead. 

Her first thought was that she needed to tell someone - probably Professor Dippet first and foremost - that she wasn’t dead, she was in the manor, perfectly alive and well. But even as she ran towards the fireplace and reached for the glittering jar of floo powder, she stopped herself. 

Hogwarts wasn’t safe for her anymore. Not with Tom there. He had tried to kill her and - if she she went back - he would try again and possibly succeed.

It would be incredibly selfish of her not to tell what she knew about him before running away. Ava bit her lip and slowly lowered her hand from the floo powder. But if she went back and told Dippet there was still a chance he wouldn’t believe her and then Tom would never rest until she was eliminated. Even if Dippet did believe her and Tom was expelled, was he really going to just let her go? After betraying his trust and knowing that she had the power to oppose him in the future? If he couldn’t do it himself, he had enough followers to carry out his dirty work. 

The truth was Ava had seen Tom Riddle’s true self and knew in her heart that one way or another, he was going to get her in the end. 

Ava made up her mind. Avaline Rochford had died in London. She was going to leave everything here behind and run. Because those were her two options. Stay and die or run and live. 

 

 

Only a handful of students at Hogwarts received the daily prophet. But even the ones that did didn’t have time to read them on Monday morning before Professor Dippet stood up and cleared his throat.

Tom had finished eating and was scanning the table to see if Avaline had returned in the night. The hubbub of the hall died down as Professor Dippet got to his feet, his expression grave.Tom put down his goblet in surprise.It was an unusual time for Dippet to be giving a speech. 

"I am afraid,” Dippet began, clasping his hands together tightly, "that another tragedy has befallen our school this year.” 

Hushed whispers started to sweep the hall immediately, talk about the chamber being reopened. Tom rolled his eyes at the talk. 

"Muggle London was attacked yesterday afternoon and I am extremely sorry to say that Avaline Rochford from fifth year has been taken from us." 

Dippet spoke over the chatter and everyone fell silent at once. 

"Avaline was an incredibly gifted witch and an admirable student. One day I am sure she would have made a wonderful head girl. She brought great pride to her house - Slytherin - and undoubtedly her loss will affect each of you. To those who knew her best, my sincerest condolences." 

Dippet bowed his head towards the Slytherin table and the rest of the teachers followed  suit, some with looks of deep shock. 

A choked cry sounded from about halfway down the table and Ava's dark haired friend, Erin, staggered to her feet, clutching her chest like it was hard for her to breathe. Professor Slughorn hurried over to her from the front table and escorted her out of the hall, patting her gently on the back while she cried. He himself was white-faced. 

Tom remained motionless in his seat. It was impossible. She could do wandless magic. She was more powerful than anyone he had ever met. There was no conceivable way that Avaline Rochford could have been killed in a muggle war. 

Ice seemed to be running through his veins, numbing him. His ears were blocked, he could only hear the rapid thumping of his own heart. He didn't know when breakfast ended, only that it did and that he needed to speak with Dippet as soon as possible. 

Ignoring everyone that tried to intercept him, he hurried to Dippet's office and waited outside for him to arrive. Images were flashing rapidly through his brain; the fiery glow she had had on his birthday at sunset, all of the time they spent together in the library, her sharp wit and her laugh. The wide open look she had only given him a handful of times - in each memory so stunning, so alive. 

Professor Dippet turned into the corridor and Tom stood up straighter, taking his hands out of his pockets. 

"Professor" he began, but Dippet held up a hand and gave him a sad smile. 

"I'm terribly sorry Mr Riddle, but I'm afraid I have no knowledge of any funeral arrangements" This confused Tom momentarily, before he realised that Dippet had clearly tried to guess why Tom was there. 

"What? No." He said and hurried on before the headmaster could interrupt him again. 

"Professor, I knew about Avaline's abilities - surely she was somehow protected from the attack?” Tom's fervour was much more apparent than he would have liked but he needed answers. 

"You knew?" Dippet asked, surprised, "she was not supposed to tell anyone.” 

"I worked it out myself.” 

Dippet sighed and somehow seemed to age ten years in the single motion. 

"Mr Riddle, living in a muggle orphanage I assume you know what a 'bomb' is?" 

Tom flinched, the sound of the wailing London sirens burned into his memory from the orphanage. 

“Yes, Sir.” 

"Then you understand, no amount of magical ability could have saved her from an unexpected attack like that. Her whole family was destroyed.” 

Tom walked numbly to class, paying even less attention to his surroundings than usual. 

All of his planning, all of his effort, wasted. She was gone because of a stupid muggle war. A war she had nothing to do with - it was the fault of those, those animals. He still remembered the look of fear in her light eyes when she had looked at him the day before, the flash of her silvery hair before she left the common room. Before she had left him. 

Avery looked at him with concern as he sat down in potions. 

“Tom, about Ava, I’m-“ Tom cut him off with a glare that would send a grown man cowering. 

“Never,” he said slowly, emphasising every word, “mention her to me again.” 

Avery swallowed before nodding and facing his work. Meanwhile Tom buried the memory of Avaline Rochford deep, deep down. 


	28. Show Me a Hero and I'll Write You a Tragedy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, if you've gotten to this point in the story - thank you so much! This fic has absorbed 4 years of my life. 
> 
> I really hope this last chapter cements this story as a decent prequel to the Harry Potter books - it's really important to me that all of this would have made sense if it had happened in canon. 
> 
> Please please please leave a comment with your thoughts - I've never finished a story before in my life! <3 
> 
> And thank you again for reading, it means the world.

When Ava turned up on the steps of Beauxbatons, claiming to be a homeschooled, orphaned victim of war, no one questioned her for a second. The number of orphans running around since Grindelwald's reign of terror began was frightening. Nor was it uncommon for many of the previously homeschooled children to turn up on the school steps, their parents sure that the school would be the safest place for them. Even though her french was a little rusty, Ava picked it back up again in no time and tried her best - for the sake of her conscience - to forget that she’d ever had a life before the one she set up in France. 

After ten years abroad, she returned to England and bought back her family manor house. There, she stayed for two more years, commuting to London to work in St Mungo’s, the local wizarding hospital - she had achieved her ambition of training to be a healer whilst in France. 

“See you tomorrow Claire.” Her co-worker Angelique waved to Ava on her way out of the ward. 

“Bye Angie!” Ava smiled back, putting her patients’ file back into the sleeve outside of the room so that one of the night staff could look it over if they needed to. 

She pulled out her ponytail and ran a hand through her long silvery blonde hair. It had been a very long week already, and it was only Wednesday. At twenty-eight, she had only just let her hair grow back out again, having cut it all off and changing it’s colour when she was sixteen. It had been a long time since Ava had stopped being afraid of being found, Tom Riddle probably didn’t even remember that she existed. 

It was harder for her to forget him though. Not just because of the way she had felt about him - something she had not let herself feel for anybody else since. 

A few years ago the whispers had started, of a powerful dark wizard and his cult-like following. They were calling themselves ‘Death eaters’ and their leader, ‘Lord Voldemort’. While she couldn’t be sure, Ava had a strong feeling she knew who was behind the pseudonym. After all, Tom had confessed to her that he would use the dark arts in order to escape mortality. 

People were going missing or turning up dead on a scarily regular basis and the daily prophet was hard pressed to keep up with the tragedies cropping up all over England. Everyone knew who was behind it because they left a calling card, a ‘dark mark’ over each victim’s home. 

Ava tried hard not to let the guilt eat her alive. If she had only had the courage to stop him when they were young - none of this would be happening. She channelled her emotions the only way she knew how, by trying to make up for the lives she had cost by saving others. Her immense power had allowed her to become one of the most skilled healers of the century and once she had grown out of her turbulent adolescence, control over her power had come quite naturally. 

Ditching the white coat with the wand and bone cross design of St Mungo’s in her locker, Ava pulled on her coat and left the building. One of the things she liked most about the hospital was that it was always busy, so even as she left there were people coming in. 

She walked down the busy street, watching the people around her turn their collars up against the September wind and duck their heads down as they walked. She smiled, none of them had any idea that the best wizarding hospital in the country was hidden on this road. 

As she looked around, she caught the eye of someone standing on the other side of the road, staring directly at her. Her step faltered. The man wearing a long black cloak. He was tall, dark-haired and pale. He looked like he was very handsome but a little ghostly. His features were more waxy and gaunt than a normal persons. Ava had trouble tearing her eyes away from the stranger’s dark gaze until somebody walked into her, causing her to drop her satchel. 

“I’m so sorry.” She apologised for having been standing still in the middle of the street but the woman who walked into her just scoffed under her breath and pushed past while Ava picked up her fallen bag. 

Ava’s eyes flicked back to where the man had been, but she could no longer see him in the crowd. She swallowed anxiously before quickening her pace, rounding the corner into a deserted alleyway and apparating back to the manor. 

Usually she apparated to the driveway but that day she apparated straight into the drawing room of the house. There, she dropped her bag to the ground and hurried to the window to peer outside. 

Everything looked as it should, the long driveway was empty and the grounds were deserted. Ava breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Avaline Rochford.” Ava spun around at the sound of her name coming from the door to the room, but before she could see who it was, a spell hit her in the chest and she knew no more.

 

Once she had come around, Ava found herself in a house very similar to her own. She was being dragged by two cloaked and hooded figures through a long hallway. Her head was pounding, Ava groaned and tried to rub her temples but found manacles on her wrists. They were a bright silver and even though Ava concentrated hard to use her magic to break them, nothing happened. Her heart sank. 

A doorway opened up ahead and she was half dragged, half carried through, the tips of her shoes catching on the floor. An enormous fireplace with a roaring fire was on the left side of the room and an antique dining table stood in the centre. The windows at the far end showed that the sun had set outside and the stars winked at her through the glass. 

The man she had seen earlier that day now stood within a few feet of her and up close, she could see he was exactly who she had dreaded him being. Even though his face had been changed by the twelve years they had spent apart and by the dark magic he had immersed himself in; those high cheekbones, that straight nose and those hazel eyes were unmistakable to her. 

Tom had found her at last. 

“Finally.” He breathed, looking more human for a fleeting second as he laid eyes on the silver haired girl. Then the moment passed.

"Let us talk.” he gestured to the mahogany table and Ava's captors threw her onto a chair there, securing her chains to the arms of the high backed chair with their wands. She didn't complain or show discomfort but instead sat straight backed and graceful, crossing one leg over the other as though this was something she did all the time.

"Leave us.” 

The two deatheaters left, closing the door behind them. 

"Avaline Rochford." Tom said slowly. He stared at her greedily, drinking in her presence. She was staring into the tall fireplace instead of looking back at him. The flames flickered and danced in her eyes, casting a bright glow that reflected off of her hair, making her iridescent. 

"I've waited a long time for this.” He went on just as slowly, crossing the room to the other end of the table so that he stood directly opposite her. She didn't acknowledge him at all and he braced the back of the chair angrily. 

"Look at me when I am speaking to you.” His high, cold voice commanded with no room for argument. Her light blue eyes flickered to meet his and his chest tightened in a way that it hadn't for twelve years. 

They stared at each other in silence before Ava looked back into the fire, her face impassive. Tom pulled out the chair he had been leaning on and sat down so that they were facing each other on opposite ends of the table. 

“Did you really think you could elude Lord Voldemort forever?” He asked, pressing the tips of his long fingers together as he surveyed her. Ava raised an eyebrow at him, an expression so familiar that he almost found himself transported back to their school days. 

“Of course I didn’t.” She spoke at last, sounding bored. She sounded exactly the same. Her voice cut through the silence in the room like a carefully wielded knife. 

“You allowed everyone to believe you died in 1943. Why?” His voice was harsh, he needed to know why she had left everything, why she had run away. 

“I needed you to believe I had died.” She answered quietly, looking back into his eyes. 

The blazing look he gave her compelled her to continue in a calm, measured voice, as though deliberately trying to prove to him that she was not afraid. 

“I knew that if I wasn’t your ally, I was your enemy and you would have killed me for it. The bombing came at the perfect time. My Aunt died, I emptied her vault and left for France under a new name.” 

She didn’t show any emotion and Tom looked deep into her eyes, probing to see if there was a hint of a lie. There wasn’t. She had left because she was afraid of him. 

“And despite all of that effort, here we are.” He gestured between them. Ava smiled a breathtaking smile. 

“Yes. Here we are.”

“I suppose you already knew that I could not leave a power like yours - a known threat - to your own devices.” 

“Why do you think I went through so much effort to bury myself.” She cocked her head at him, a teasing grin stretching her face. Even after all this time, they knew each other like she had never left. 

“I brought you here to make you an offer that I have given no one else.” He said, leaning forwards. Ava knew that they had finally reached the crux of why she was there. And she knew what she was going to say. 

“I am offering you a second chance.” He said it in such a way that made it sound like the highest honour. 

“A second chance to join my forces. Lord Voldemort is merciful, I am willing to forgive the mistakes you made when you were sixteen." He crooned delicately, watching the tiniest changes in her face. A tiny crease on her brow, her jaw clenching and unclenching, the pulse racing in the side of her neck. He smirked, knowing that even now, he was affecting her. She sighed.

"The only mistake I made when I was sixteen was loving you" she replied softly after a moment of silence. 

Fire raced through Tom’s veins when she said this, burning his insides and boiling his blood. He sat back in his chair, his eyes flashing crimson. 

“Is that your refusal?” 

“It is” Ava said politely, as though they were talking of nothing more important than the weather. 

Tom stood up, slamming his hands on the table angrily. 

“Do you know how many people would die for the chance I am offering.” He hissed. 

"A great many have died for it, I’m sure.” Ava replied knowingly, sitting up a little straighter in her chair. 

"You forget how well I know you, Tom.” 

Tom's wand was drawn in less than a second. 

"Do not call me that.” His cold, high voice was commanding again. Ava tilted her head in response, letting magic flow through her veins to try one last time to break the chains on her arms. They didn’t give.

"I am Lord Voldemort,” he growled, his tone suddenly much lower, "and you will show me respect.” 

They looked at each other in silence, Tom still standing, completely tense with both hands pressed on one end of the table, Ava sat at the other looking infuriatingly at home. Her expression and her body language showed nothing but easy grace, despite the chains, but he wanted her to tremble at his glare, to squirm when spoken to, to fear him. 

"To me,” she said slowly, not breaking eye contact with him. 

"You will always be, Tom Riddle" The words dripped from her tongue like honey, sweet and gentle. Wrapping around his name like a caress. He had never liked it, nor loathed it more than in that moment. He closed his eyes angrily and stood up straight, clutching his wand tightly. 

"This is your last chance Avaline Rochford," he spat her name like it was poison in his mouth. 

"You show me respect and we can reach some sort of arrangement.” 

Ava smiled at the fury twisting his face which, despite being chalk white and waxy, was the same face that she had fallen in love with. 

"We both knew I was dead the moment I stepped into the room, Tom.” 

Tom could do nothing stop the wave of ferocity that overtook him, he was blinded by his obsession with finding her, her refusal to join him, her lack of respect. He stared at her for a fleeting second through manic eyes, this girl who could have such an effect on him after all these years. His last great weakness.

"Avada kedavra!" He didn't remember consciously deciding to shout the words but he watched as the flash of brilliant green light shot across the table, aimed at Ava's heart.

The moment the curse hit Avaline Rochford, when she slumped forwards onto the table, her long silvery hair spilling across it, her expressive blue eyes wide and empty; Tom Riddle's irises burned red.

And they _never_ turned back to hazel. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “This is how we bring about our own damnation, you know-by ignoring the voice that begs us to stop. To stop while there's still time.”   
> ― Stephen King, Revival


End file.
